September 14, 2004

Brazil's Beef Exports Soars 78% In 2004

Brazilian bovine meat exports have produced a revenue of US$ 1.555 billion between January and August this year. The figure represents a 77.75% increase, compared with US$ 875.3 million during the same period last year.

Almost 1.2 million tons of the products were exported during the first eight months in 2004. This is an increase of almost 40% compared with the 859.2 thousand tons shipped a year ago.

The sales were increased to a series of destinations, including Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Egypt, part of the main 15 Brazilian meat importers.

During August, bovine meat exports totaled US$ 242.8 million, which is up 121.5% against US$ 109.6 million for the same month last year.

190.4 thousand tons of beef were shipped in August, whereas 97.7 thousand tons were exported during the same month last year. The figure is a 94.8% increase from the year before.

The top importer country is Russia, which bought US$ 32.94 million worth of Brazilian bovine meat, equivalent to 30.33 thousand tons.

According to the president of the Brazilian Beef Industry and Exporters Association (Abiec), Marcus Vinicius Pratini de Moraes, Brazil should export the equivalent to US$ 2.3 billion until the end of the year.

"We have the capacity to increase a lot our production, there are no limits," stated Pratini. He added that Abiec will invest in marketing for the Brazilian bovine meat.