AAQTIC confirms plummeting slaughter rate in Argentina
27/01/2011
AAQTIC said the reduction in the number of cattle that went to Argentina’s abattoirs last year was “of the order of 25%” compared to 2009 and pointed out that this is the steepest year-on-year drop in slaughter in the South American country since records began.
With December’s figures still to be confirmed, AAQTIC said its calculation for slaughter for the whole year was between 11.7 million and 11.8 million head. “After four or five years with slaughter at around 13 million or 14 million head, the figure plummeted in 2010 to below 12 million,” AAQTIC’s report says.
The country’s livestock population also fell during 2010 by 15% compared to 2008, the organisation said, from 60 million head to 50 million, while domestic beef consumption fell from 68 kilos per person per year to 55 kilos. Beef exports for the year were down by around 50% for the year.
According to AAQTIC, it could take up to four years to build livestock and slaughter totals up again and the organisation warned that a further decline in 2011, perhaps to under 11 million head, is possible. Unsurprisingly, it said this set of circumstances has had a serious effect on the tanning industry in Argentina because tanners found raw material to be scarce and expensive during 2010.
A programme of building the national herd size back up began in 2009. Fewer cows went to slaughter in the course of 2010, but AAQTIC believes it will still take up to four years to build stocks back up to previous levels of around 13 million head a year. This figure is based on the per capita consumption of beef remaining at around 55 kilos per year. “Consumption levels of 70 or 80 kilos per person per year will simply not be possible in years to come,” AAQTIC said.
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