13 June 2008

3 minute read

South America

Despite a 20.27% reduction in volume of Brazilian beef exports, which also affected the Arab market, Brazil will keep on working to secure its leadership in the North African and Middle Eastern countries. "Brazilian beef enjoys a privileged status across the entire Arab market, and we will continue working to maintain that," said the new president at the Brazilian Beef Industry and Exporters Association (Abiec), Roberto Giannetti da Fonseca, who assumed the presidency a week ago.

Out of the 15 leading importer markets for raw Brazilian beef, six are Arab countries. Egypt ranks fourth in the list, with imports of US$ 91.81 million in the first five months this year, representing reduction of 40% compared with the same period last year. In all, 47,640 tonnes of the product were shipped to the Arab country, decrease of 61.7% using the same basis for comparison.

According to Giannetti, the reduction in Brazilian beef exports volume, which totalled 1.15 million tonnes from January to May 2007 and reached 920,680 tonnes in the same period this year, happened due to the European embargo on the Brazilian product and to high prices, which led demand to drop. "Egypt has also adhered to the European Union's embargo," said the president.

Another Arab country to which import volume decreased was Algeria, reduction of 17.24%. However, Brazilian revenues from exports to the Arab country grew 28.2% to stand at US$ 61.45 million. In the case of Lebanon, shipped volume decreased 5.2%, whereas revenues grew 40.2%.

In the case of Saudi Arabia, for instance, foreign sales of raw beef from Brazil resulted in revenues of US$ 62 million, representing growth of 65% in comparison with the first five months of last year. Shipments totalled 27,650 tonnes of the product, growth of 1.2%. In the case of Libya and the United Arab Emirates, both the volume and the revenues increased. "The Arab market ranks among the regions in which Brazilian beef enjoys the most acceptance, due to its quality, pricing, and the promotional actions we are holding (there)," said Giannetti.

According to him, Abiec and the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex) are scheduling new promotional actions in the Arab market. "The Middle East and North Africa remain a priority for Abiec, which is investing in marketing to hold our market position," asserted the president.

More than US$ 2 billion

Brazilian beef exports totalled US$ 2.06 billion from January to May, representing growth of 10.4% in comparison with the same period last year. A total of 920,860 tonnes were exported, decrease of 20.27% using the same basis for comparison. According to projections by the Abiec, revenues from foreign sales of the product should reach US$ 5 billion this year, and shipped volume should surpass 2 million tonnes.

Also this year, Abiec should work to enter the markets of the United States and Japan. Furthermore, the organisation wants to keep working in order to bring foreign opinion makers to Brazil, so as to show them the Brazilian beef production chain.

TheCattleSite News Desk