December 16, 2011

Brazil's January-November 2011 beef exports has reached US$4.958 billion, up 11.4% on the same period of last year and approximately meeting the US$5 billion previously estimated for all of 2011, the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association (Abiec) said late Wednesday (Dec 14).

Abiec attributes the rise to a 26.7% increase in average prices, to US$4,905 per tonne, given that volumes fell 12% in the first 11 months of the year, to 1.01 million tonnes.

Beef exporters now project full-2011 exports at a record US$5.3 billion, with volume slipping 10% versus 2010, though.

Volumes were affected by the Russian ban on Brazilian meat, political problems in some Middle Eastern countries and the real's strength against the dollar, which hurt the sector's competitiveness, Abiec said.

Despite the ban, Russia remains the main buyer of Brazil's meat, followed by the EU, Hong Kong, Egypt, Venezuela, and Chile.

Abiec sees exports growing both in revenue and volume in 2012, but won't provide forecasts.