Argentina reaches to 50 plants approved to export beef in China
According to the latest updated information of General Administration of Customs of China (GACC), 9 new Argentinian beef plants were permitted to export frozen beef and chilled beef to China. So far, the number of approved Argentinian beef plants registered in GACC has increased to 50, announced Beef to China website.
In 2019, the approval process of China to Argentinian beef plants was very fast. In just two months, a total of 23 Argentine beef plants were approved by China, which slightly surpassed Brazil (40). As more beef plants got approval, the shipments of Argentinian beef to Mainland China are expected to continue to grow.
Beef consumption in Argentina has dropped in the last 12 months due to the lower power of purchase and is to drop further as the prices are rising due to increased demand in export markets.
A similar situation is reported in Brazil, where a whole range of meat products is expected to increase as China is importing more and more poultry, pork and beef from the South American country. Chinese imports of Brazilian meat are up 23.6% in the first 10 months of 2019, with beef prices reacting first to the pressure. Last week, wholesale beef prices in the greater Sao Paulo area have consequently hit an all-time high of R$13.9 per kilogram ($3.3), according to the University of Sao Paulo's Cepea research centre, a benchmark think-tank. "Meat prices will continue to rise and this will pose a challenge for the household. When beef rises, other meats also rise ... it's a question of substitution,", commented Andre Braz, an economist with the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a Brazilian university.
The demand for beef from China is unexpected even for some representative of the industry. "We knew that there would be big demand for cows to slaughter, but not of this magnitude. The number of companies licensed by China was significant," said Pericles Salazar, president of Abafrigo, the Brazilian meatpackers association.
Total Brazilian beef exports from January to October were 1.5 million tonnes, 11% higher than in 2018, and those to China were 23.6% higher at 320,000 tonnes in the same period.
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