Brazil confident that China's beef market is recovering, but at lower prices

Published 2023년 3월 23일

Tridge summary

The article highlights the recent trend in Brazilian beef exports, particularly to China, showing a consistent decline in prices over the past eight months, with the average price per ton in early February 2023 being US$ 4,822.90, a 14% decrease from February 2022. This situation has raised concerns among meat producers and slaughterhouses about their margins, attributed mainly to contract renegotiations with Chinese customers in anticipation of the Chinese New Year. Despite the current downturn, analysts forecast a price recovery later in the year, albeit not reaching previous highs. The article also touches on the global and domestic market dynamics, including the potential impact of high-value markets like South Korea and Japan, changes in domestic consumption patterns, and the role of the exchange rate in meat pricing. It concludes by mentioning the challenges and opportunities facing the Brazilian beef industry, such as the need to balance export and domestic market demands while maintaining competitiveness.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

The price of beef (fresh, chilled or frozen) exported by Brazil mainly to China in the first week of February maintained the downward trend of the last eight months, but, according to analysts, the trend now is for prices to recover in the rest of the year, although to levels lower than those observed in June. According to data from the Foreign Trade Secretariat (Secex), the ton was sold for US$ 4,822.90, on average, at the beginning of this month, with retreats of 0.4% in relation to the average of January and of almost 14% in the comparison with February 2022. Last June, the protein was exported for US$ 6,826.30 a ton. The Brazilian Association of Frigorificos (Abrafrigo) recently expressed concern about the drop in prices of exported meat, not least because the margins of slaughterhouses in the domestic market are still tight thanks to retracted demand. The entity stated that the renegotiation of contracts with customers in China, the main destination for shipments, was the ...

Source: MercoPress