The price of horse meat in Uruguayan refrigerators fell by around 20%, and went from a reference of US$500 to US$400, sources from the sector informed Tardáguila Agromercados. The value that the industry pays for this meat was affected by the sanctions that the West has placed on Russia as a result of the war attacks on Ukraine, and Uruguayan operators see operations with that country as unfeasibleone of the main importers of Uruguayan horse meat.
Not only have prices fallen as a result of the war, but also demand and slaughter levels. In Uruguay there are three cold storage plants that work with equines, Clay (which has 54% of exports), Sarel (which is positioned in second place as an exporter with 28% of operations), and Agroindustrial del Este (which sells 18% of exported meat); one of these plants reduced slaughter from 800 to 300 animals per week.
In addition, as reported, those lighter horses, which do not exceed 350 kilos, are not in demand and are paid “US$ 20 per head,” the source assured. The operator maintained that the horses with that weight that go to the refrigeration industry are usually close to 40% of the total.
So far in 2022, Uruguay has exported US$6.25 million in horse meat. The main destinations are Belgium, France and Russia, with similar figures being exported to all three markets, around 25%. Customs data does not report export requests to Russia so far in March.
