Brazilian meatpackers buy more Uruguayan cattle
Encouraged by declining cattle prices in Uruguay, meatpackers from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, have been importing more livestock from the neighbouring country.
Uruguayan cattle accounted for an average of 15% of the region’s production between November 2008 and January 2009, and may help to raise 2009 slaughter levels by 13% to 20% compared with 2008 figures.
Representatives from the sector have said that, despite the overvalued US dollar, taxes and freight, Uruguayan animals cost 15% less than locally bred cattle. According to technical director of Rio Grande do Sul’s Ministry of Agriculture Superintendency (SFA), José Euclides Severo, cattle imports from Uruguay rose 155% to 64,300 head compared with the previous November to January period. "The drop in Uruguayan beef exports to the US because of the financial crisis and the severe dry spell that has devastated the country have forced breeders to sell and, as a result, prices have dropped," he said.
Ronei Lauxen, president of the Rio Grande do Sul Beef Industry (Sicadergs), says that cattle exports have never been so large.
