Brazilian beef exports ended the month of June with positive results. Last month, shipments of the product totaled 134,377 tons, an increase of 107% compared to the same month last year. In terms of revenues, the result was also favorable, reaching US$ 514.6 million, according to data from the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Foreign Services (MDIC), compiled by the Brazilian Association of Meatpacking Plants (Abrafrigo).
The entity emphasizes that this year's high volume can be explained by the truck drivers' strike, which drastically reduced the sale of several products. In July last year, beef exports totaled only 65,026 tons, with revenue of US$$ 266.7 million.
With these results, the first half of the year ended with a growth of 27% in quantity and 17% in foreign currency, reaching 828,669 tons and a revenue of US$$ 3.1 billion. In the same period in 2018, 655,039 tons were moved, generating US$$ 2.6 billion in revenue.
China remains the main importer of the product through the city-state of Hong Kong and the mainland, but its relative share in total exports decreased in the first half of last year. In the first half of last year, Chinese movement accounted for 45.3% of exports and in the same period of 2019 it reached 38.4%, even growing from 296,483 tons to 317,828 tons.
This better distribution of movement was contributed to by the increase in imports from countries such as Egypt, Brazil's second largest customer (+12%); the United Arab Emirates (+443%); Iran (+41.4%); Russia (+865%); Turkey (+870%); the Philippines (+120%) and Uruguay (+62%), among the 20 largest buyers of Brazilian products. According to Abrafrigo, 105 countries increased their imports, while another 50 reduced their purchases.
