This year will conclude with a turnover that is estimated to be a record for the commercialization of meats produced in Uruguay, considering that the US $ 4,000 million that correspond to US $ 2,900 million for the income from exports and US $ 1,200 million for the commercialization in the domestic market.
The data was presented by Conrado Ferber, president of the National Meat Institute (INAC), in the closing ceremony of activities for 2021 that the meat institute organized this Thursday, in one of its facilities in the Old City.
“It is clear, once again, that the meat chain was ready and has all the strength to lead the economic recoveryFerber stated. He added that the country needed livestock to take over again and “it is happening” and that “it is clear in the macro numbers that we see, of low unemployment and poverty.”
“It is clear that this is an agricultural country and that it is worth betting on it,” said Ferber
Jorge Acosta, INAC Information Manager, explained to The Observer that with a rise in the volume of meat exported this year, the amount of tariffs that Uruguay had to pay also increased, which in 2020 was US $ 180 million per year, although the data for this year is not yet closed, he commented.
This rise was due to the high levels of placement in the market and also due to the average value of exported meat, which increased by 13% in the case of cattle and 18.5% in the case of sheep.
Considering average prices, the ton of beef for export is estimated to close this year at US $ 4,260, while for sheep an average value of US $ 5,136 is envisaged; in recent weeks those prices have firmed up.
The managers of the Information, Internal Market, Marketing, Knowledge and Quality areas of INAC gave a press conference together with the president of the meat institute and the Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP), Fernando Mattos.
The head of MGAP said that the growth in the activities of the meat sector, as well as the values, are figures that “make everyone proud.” “I think we still have room to grow”, he maintained, and called for maintaining the levels of work in the field.
Diego battiste
Diego battiste
Mattos stressed that “there is room to grow.”
Price and consumption rose
At the same time, it was indicated that the consumption of animal protein in the domestic market reversed the trend that had been occurring (downward) for three years. On beef grew 2.3% and in poultry meat 13%, compared to 2020.
According to estimates from the institute, per capita meat consumption in 2021 grew by three kilos compared to last year, and this is explained because there was a growth of 2.4 kilos per person per year in poultry meat and a growth of one kilo in the case of beef.
The price of meat to the consumer increased. In 2021, bovine meat accumulated an increase of 21.5% according to the INAC survey, while pork and poultry had a growth of 3.7% and 4.2%, respectively.
Diego battiste
The meat sector will close in 2021 with revenues that exceed US $ 4,000 million.
The year ends with record work
In 2021 there were “historically high levels” of beef slaughter, which responded to an increase in international demand for Uruguayan meats, Acosta highlighted.
Growth exceeded 30% and with that as a frame slaughter of animals from feedlots will be the highest since there are records; that of sheep will close the year with levels not seen since 2014; and in the case of birds, the growth will be 10%.
This year, it is estimated, it will be finished with a slaughter of about 2.6 million cattle. A level of such growth, Acosta commented, had not occurred. “It is one of the highest figures that livestock has seen”, said.
The increase was mainly due to activity in the third quarter, when there were “historically high” levels of slaughter, with an increase of more than 50%.
Adult cows and young steers represent 65% of the slaughtered specimens; the figure is close to 1.3 million head.
On the other hand, in the corral slaughter a record was set. 350,000 head were slaughtered and growth, with respect to 2020, was 23%. Acosta affirmed that the levels reached are the highest since records have been kept.
In the case of sheep slaughter -that approximates 1.4 million head-, such a high number had not been seen since 2014. The most prominent in this area was the slaughter of females, which will reach 380,000 specimens.
On the other hand, this year more than 32 million birds were also slaughtered. Slaughter of this species showed a recovery in November and the figures, at the end of the year, are close to those obtained four years ago.
“It was a year of several record figures, there was more work, more production, more sales, more prices and ultimately more foreign exchange. It is a year to frame and there are expectations that next year we can set another record or at least say that the level of activity remains at high levels, “said Acosta.
