In a new business of exporting sheep and beef to Saudi Arabia, the stock of Uruguayan products ran out almost immediately.
Nelson Yemil Chabén, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, alluded to this new commercial trend on his Twitter account and highlighted the high demand.
We managed to access the Saudi Arabian market. The stock was sold out almost immediately. Enormous possibilities for our food products – natural – with minimal tariffs. pic.twitter.com/r3WDvaYUdh
– Nelson Yemil Chabén Labadie (@nychaben) February 3, 2022
Uruguay resumed the export business of sheep and beef with that country a short time agoafter the market closed in 2012, explained to The Observer Álvaro Pereira, head of Access and Market Intelligence of the National Meat Institute (INAC).
The Embassy of Uruguay in Riyadh took steps to make this possible. The Pando and Las Piedras refrigerators were the first to enter into the negotiation with Saudi Arabia, then the Minerva Foods establishment was added. The movements of these companies were important for the opening of the market, even the Pando refrigerator sent free samples of meat to Saudi Arabia, as he learned The Observer.
The Saudi Arabian market
Uruguayan meat products enter that market with minimal tariffs and demand is increasing.
Pereira explained that in that country Uruguay pays 5% tariffsso “there are no major market access barriers”.
“I understand that there are entrepreneurs looking to develop in that market,” he said, adding that it is an important market because it has a structural need for food, which leads it to import a lot, so there may be business opportunities. This market imports 80% of the food.
“From INAC we celebrate market openings so that the private sector can have them,” he concluded.
