Income from Argentine meat exports in January totaled US$207 million, almost 3% more than in the same month of 2021, thanks to the fact that the improvement in values offset the sharp decrease in the tonnage shipped, the Consortium of Argentine Meat Exporters (ABC) reported today.
In this sense, the ABC specified, in the first month of the year, beef exports added 37 thousand tons24% less than in January of the previous year.
“The decrease in January 2022 occurred in both frozen and chilled meats; in the first case, it weighed significantly Chinawhich dragged the total, while in the second, Chile“, affirmed the president of ABC, Mario Ravettino.
According to Ravettino, “these two destinations were the main reason for the drop observed in shipments, which could not be offset by increases in exports to the European Union and Israel.
The improvement in prices and a greater participation within the total of chilled meats and tariff quotas, which have higher average values, resulted in a increase in the average amount billed since June 2021, comparing with the average of the first months of 2021.
For ABC, the global beef market remains strong and in demand, even after the reopening of China for Brazilian exporters.
Despite the reduction of between 16% and 25% in the average tonnage Since the application of restrictive measures on Argentine shipments, comparing with the average of the first months of last year and the second half of 2020 respectively, the price medium had an improvement of more than 30% compared to the same periods.
China continued to lead bovine meat exports, although it ceded considerably in its share: from 80% prior to the restrictions, it hit a floor of 64% last September and remains in the order of 70% since then.
In May 2021, exports to China registered their all-time highreached 52 thousand tons as a result of a record volume of bone-in frozen meat (13.5 thousand tons).
Thereafter, they fell back to 28,000 and 25,000 tons in June and July, respectively, to range between 30-36 thousand tons in the following months, with a relatively stable share of the bone-in item of between 8 and 9 thousand tons.
At the beginning of the year, a new drop was noted with a level that did not reach 21 thousand tons in boneless frozen meats, while products with bone touched its lowest point from September 2020 (6160 tons).
The verified drop in volume was attenuated by the upward trend in the average values, which in January 2022 was $5,700 per tonUS$1,900 dollars more than twelve months ago and above the record reached towards the end of 2019.
“In the last twelve months, a total of 415 thousand tons of frozen meat were destined for China, almost three quarters of the total Argentine exports of bovine meat; the improvement in the average value absorbed the reduction in the tons exported compared to the twelve months closed in 2020/21, but it meant a decrease of US$ 420 million when compared to the accumulated between 2019/20”, Ravettino completed.
