Meat exporters in Argentina hope for China boost
Meat companies in Argentina have expressed hope of an upturn in exports of beef to China after the South American country’s president said, on July 28, that he intended to remove quotas.
President of a packers’ consortium ABC, Mario Ravettino, welcomed the announcement, said positive messages from the government in Buenos Aires were welcome, but he warned that the competition to win export contracts in China was fierce.
Official figures show that Argentina slaughtered just over 6.5 million head of cattle in the first half of 2024, down by 10.6% year on year.
Meat production from these cattle amounted to nearly 1.5 million tonnes, according to figures published by meat industry body CICCRA. This represents a fall of 10.1% compared to the first half of last year.
CICCRA confirmed that exports to China had fallen in 2024. It said that in May 2024, shipments of beef to China had reached 28,900 tonnes in volume, which represented 62.5% of total exports.
In May 2023, shipments to China were 18% higher in volume at 34,120 tonnes. And in May 2023, China’s share of total exports was 80.5%.
