August 4, 2014

Brazil's beef exports to China may reach between US$800 million and US$1.2 billion in 2015, a range which is 20% of the former's total foreign exports, according to the Brazilian agriculture ministry.

In July, China announced it had lifted the embargo on Brazilian beef which had been in place for 18 months. In addition, it approved meat exports from eight Brazilian abattoirs and another nine are expected to follow suit this year.

As exports to the country open up, exports to Hong Kong, Brazil's largest market in China, see a decline. The Special Administrative Region imported 192,000 tonnes of beef in the first half of 2014, at a value worth US$794.5 million.

In 2012, Brazil's meat sales to China totalled US$37.7 million.