could easily mean that the total amount of chicken exported directly to China from Brazil will double in 2011, up from 134,000 tonnes in 2010. Of the roughly $1bn of chicken that China imports each year, about half comes from Brazil (though a lot of it goes through Hong Kong first).
China’s appetite for Brazil’s meat grows.
April 20, 2011 10:56 pm by Vincent Bevins 0
When President Dilma Rousseff visited China last week, she said she would be pressuring Brazil’s largest trading partner to import more than just iron ore and soya.
In response, China seems to have said: “Sure, we’ll have more chicken, and a little more beef. Oh, and we’ll try the pork.”
Apart from aircraft producer Embraer, which scored a deal for up to $1.4bn, the big Brazilian winners so far seem to have been the country’s meat producers, growing quickly along with the world’s appetite. Yesterday, agriculture minister Wagner Rossi announced that China had approved 25 new chicken processing plants and 5 new beef refrigerators for export, more than doubling the total number of each to 49 and 8, respectively.
Francisco Turra, president of the Brazilian Chicken Association, told beyondbrics this could easily mean that the total amount of chicken exported directly to China from Brazil will double in 2011, up from 134,000 tonnes in 2010. Of the roughly $1bn of chicken that China imports each year, about half comes from Brazil (though a lot of it goes through Hong Kong first).
The news came after the announcement last week that Brazilian pork exporters would be given access to the Chinese market for the first time. Three producers have been approved, after Chinese officials inspected facilities here last year. Since China is picky about its pork, this was encouraging for Rossi.
He said: “China was the first high-value big market that we gained access to. The Chinese are very demanding when it comes to pork. For that reason, a Chinese endorsement can be a showcase for entrance into other important Asian markets.”
Behind iron ore, soya, and oil, chicken meat competes with coffee to be Brazil’s fourth-largest commodity export. Beef trails a bit behind, while pork does not play a large role at the moment. In all, the Brazilian beef industry exported $13.3bn last year, up 16 per cent from 2009. China has not so far been one of its main importers.
Scoring deals for meat producers in a way achieves some of the diversification of the China-Brazil trade connection that Dilma was aiming for. It does not, however, provide the lifeline for her country’s manufacturing sector, battered by the overvalued real, that the Embraer deal does. Brazil’s agricultural sector is enjoying the benefits of the current high food prices that are also contributing to inflation worries, but animals have to eat too: the price of corn and soy used to raise chickens is cutting into margins.
Turra said recently: “This isn’t a Brazilian phenomenon. Rising food prices are a global problem. But, with more income, people will consume more protein and we should have a good year, in spite of the current tightening.”
At the very least, Brazil is increasing its share in the huge Chinese meat market, which is not likely to go away soon.
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