Good prospects for Uruguay’s meat industry
25/01/2010
The National Meat Institute (INAC) of Uruguay has said that the prospects for 2010 throughout the industry’s value chain are positive, with demand on the domestic and export markets likely to be strong.
Pablo Caputti, who is in charge of economic analysis at INAC, has told local media that he expects no repeat of the drought conditions that affected the industry last year are unlikely to occur again in 2010. He also said that he expects Uruguay’s livestock population to decrease by around 200,000 head of cattle this year, and for the figure today of 11.7 million head across the country to go down to 11 million over the next few years.
The South American country produces 600,000 tonnes of beef a year at the moment, a third of which is consumed domestically, with two-thirds going for export. Mr Caputti said conditions were right for Uruguay’s beef exports to be strong in 2010, with an increase in prices. “There is talk of food prices in general going up this year,” he commented. “That would obviously be good news for exporting countries.”
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