A new era as Argentina air-freights beef to China
04/07/2019
China and Argentina agreed to an expansion in trade in beef in 2018, but it took until June 2019 for new animal health and food hygiene protocols to come into force, allowing this first consignment of chilled beef to leave for China towards the end of the month. Swift Argentina chief executive, Miguel De Achával, said the company had decided to use air-freight “for the time beign” because it had not yet been able to arrange a suitable ocean-freight solution.
He told local media that he thought it worth paying the extra cost of air-freight to introduce the brand and its products to high-end niche markets such as some of China’s best hotels and restaurants.
Exports of beef from Argentina to China brought in revenues of $523 million in 2017. In 2018, this rose to $998 million, and the government is confident the new protocols will boost this further.
Commenting after the first consignment of chilled beef had shipped, agro-industries minister, Luis Miguel Etchevehere, said: “This development represents a great opportunity for Argentina’s beef industry and for trade in general between our country and China. It means we are now able to enter a new sector of the market in which there is high value and big demand.”
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