December 13, 2006

Brazil to promote cattle beef in Morocco and Dubai
 

As part of its effort to further expand Brazilian cattle beef exports to the Arab market, the Brazilian Beef Industry and Exporters Association (Abiec) would participate in Gulf Food, a food sector fair in the UAE, and in a workshop in Morocco.

Brazil sees the Arab countries as a huge market for its exports, stated the president of the organisation, Marcus Pratini de Moraes.

The fair would be held in Dubai between February 19 and 22, while the workshop would take place in Morocco in the first half of 2007.

Incidentally, the Abiec participated in similar events earlier this year, in Egypt and Algeria.

Brazil exported 271,700 tonnes of beef to Egypt during Jan-Nov this year, making Egypt the second main importer of Brazilian cattle beef, losing only to Russia, which imported 407,000 tonnes. Algeria and Saudi Arabia remain among the 10 important buyers of Brazilian beef.

Foreign sales of Brazilian cattle beef generated US$ 3.59 billion from Jan-Nov this year, representing an increase of 27.2 percent when compared to the same period in 2005. Shipments totalled 2.2 million tonnes, with growth of 10.7 percent. Pratini termed this an extraordinary increase and expects exports to reach US$ 4 billion by the end of the year. He has also been stressing on improving the product mix and entering new markets.

The figures prove that Brazil is the largest word exporter of cattle beef,  both in terms of volume and value.

Another fact that Pratini pointed out is the improvement in Brazilian participation in the international market. They were trying to get closer to distributors, acting as salesmen by reducing intermediaries.