December 11, 2012

An agreement between Argentina and Brazil will allow frozen shrimp exports to Brazil.

The agreement was signed by the president of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, and her Brazilian counterpart, Dilma Rousseff, during the Mercosur summit held in Brazil.

According to the agreement, Argentina will export about 5,000 tonnes of frozen shrimps to the Brazilian market, which will greatly favour the fisheries sector of the Patagonian province of Chubut.

The head of Argentina's Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Nation (Minagri), Norberto Yauhar, stressed that the agreement reached "is key to the sector, especially in Chubut, as the main beneficiary of this agreement is the yellow fleet of Rawson, and the plants on land that are located in the provincial capital as well as in Madryn."

Yahuar stated that about 5,000 tonnes will be exported, which, considering an average price of US$10 per kilogramme, will represent a business of US$50 million.

Last August, Yauhar and the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture (MPA) in Brazil, Marcelo Crivella, moved forward to reach a covenant that ultimately took place through the presidents of both countries.

Under the initial agreement, it is detailed that the reference price on which they would work around the export of frozen shrimp on land was a value that was over US$14 for L1 and US$12 for L3, being this the minimum size that will be allowed to export to Brazil.

The shrimp being processed on land will also receive a special treatment, with values that are higher than US$20 a tonne.