Argentina

Argentina gets scared of its dependency on the Chinese market

Beef

While the beef exports are rising, any recovery in the domestic supply of meat in China could endanger the industry.

Posted on Aug 28 ,06:33

Argentinian beef exports may reach 700,000 tonnes this year, with almost 80% of this volume sent to China, according to estimates presented by the Chamber of Meat Industry and Commerce (CICCRA).
Nevertheless, the increase in beef exports to China may have its dark side for the Argentinian beef industry. "What happens if the Chinese market is getting cold? It would cause us deep damage. We are too focused on one country", warns Miguel Schiariti, president of CICCRA, quoted by Defrente Al Campo magazine. In his opinion, Argentina should work harder to open new markets in Southeast Asia such as Korea, Taiwan or Vietnam.
During the first seven months of 2019, Argentina exported 408,100 tonnes of beef. For H1, the volume exported was 225,726 tonnes, up by 47.4%. Of that total, 163,000 tonnes were shipped to China, or 72% of the total, with an interannual increase of 108.3%. It was followed by Chile (14,200 tons), Israel (11,900) and Germany (11,875).
On the other hand, the ASF situation in China is expected to keep a tight supply of meat in China at least until the end of 2020.
"It is expected that the supply of live pigs will be tight in the second half of this year and next year. This might support pig prices to remain at a high level," said China's leading pig-farming and pork producing company Cofco Meat Holdings. Despite the fact that the company's production operations have suffered due to the disease, Cofco's meat import business is thriving. The company's profit from the imported meat product segment in H1 2019 jumped nearly 79%, informs AgriCensus.
China’s total pork imports in the first six months of this year already rose 26%, to 819,000 tonnes. Beef and sheepmeat imports are also higher compared with the figures reported a year ago.

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