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Aurea Santos*
aurea.santos@anba.com.br
22/12/2009 - 17:21
Agribusiness
Arabs should import more beef in 2010
Egypt, Libya and Algeria should collaborate with the recovery of Brazilian bovine meat exports next year, says Roberto Giannetti da Fonseca, president of the Beef Industry and Exporters Association.
São Paulo – Arab countries in North Africa, such as Egypt, Libya and Algeria, should contribute to the recovery of Brazilian beef exports in 2010, said the president of the Brazilian Beef Industry and Exporters Association (Abiec), Roberto Giannetti da Fonseca, in an interview to ANBA, after a press conference at the organization’s headquarters.
According to him, Libya and Algeria are also important markets for Brazilian beef, of which the leading buyer, Russia, imported 17% less in terms of volume and 39% less in terms of value from January to November 2009, compared with the same period of last year. "It is a very important region that Brazilian beef has conquered, and we intend to keep it growing, because it is a market of hundreds of millions of people, an important destination for Brazilian beef, " said Fonseca of the Arab countries in North Africa.
From January to November this year, Egypt imported 12% more raw beef from Brazil, volume-wise, whereas imports by Lebanon, in the Middle East, have grown 32%. As for imports of processed beef, Jordan had the most significant growth of all countries: 76% in volume and 78% in value. Overall, revenues from exports have decreased by 25%, totalling US$ 3.7 billion, and export volume saw a 12% reduction, totalling 1.1 million tonnes.
During the press conference, Fonseca stated that beef exports are in a moment of recovery. He claimed that the industry’s profitability will be higher in 2010. "We are certain that the crisis has passed." For next year, Fonseca says that he is expecting beef exports to grow by 10% in volume and from 10% to 20% in value.
With regard to meat production in Brazil, the ABIEC president informed that in five or six years, there needs to be an increase from the current 9 million tonnes to approximately 14 million tonnes in order for the country to be able to meet its domestic and foreign demands. Presently, 2 million tonnes of beef produced in the country are exported.
Another point touched on by Fonseca was the law that mandates traceability of Brazilian cattle. Passed in November this year, it forces breeders to adopt sustainable practices, as well as sanitary measures to prevent livestock from being bred in deforestation areas, for instance.
To Fonseca, the adoption of the law should differentiate between legal breeders and illegal ones. "Those who wish to be on the international market and work with Abiec members are going to have to meet our demands [for cattle traceability]," he said. "We need to have modern, sustainable, productive cattle breeding."
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
Aurea Santos/ANBA 
Fonseca explains that exports to Egypt, one of the five leading buyers of Brazilian beef, have decreased due to the crisis this year, but started to recover in the second half. "I believe that in 2010 we are going to export a similar or even slightly higher volume than in 2008, before the crisis," he said.
Giannetti: Beef exports should grow by 10% in 2010
According to him, Libya and Algeria are also important markets for Brazilian beef, of which the leading buyer, Russia, imported 17% less in terms of volume and 39% less in terms of value from January to November 2009, compared with the same period of last year. "It is a very important region that Brazilian beef has conquered, and we intend to keep it growing, because it is a market of hundreds of millions of people, an important destination for Brazilian beef, " said Fonseca of the Arab countries in North Africa.
From January to November this year, Egypt imported 12% more raw beef from Brazil, volume-wise, whereas imports by Lebanon, in the Middle East, have grown 32%. As for imports of processed beef, Jordan had the most significant growth of all countries: 76% in volume and 78% in value. Overall, revenues from exports have decreased by 25%, totalling US$ 3.7 billion, and export volume saw a 12% reduction, totalling 1.1 million tonnes.
During the press conference, Fonseca stated that beef exports are in a moment of recovery. He claimed that the industry’s profitability will be higher in 2010. "We are certain that the crisis has passed." For next year, Fonseca says that he is expecting beef exports to grow by 10% in volume and from 10% to 20% in value.
With regard to meat production in Brazil, the ABIEC president informed that in five or six years, there needs to be an increase from the current 9 million tonnes to approximately 14 million tonnes in order for the country to be able to meet its domestic and foreign demands. Presently, 2 million tonnes of beef produced in the country are exported.
Another point touched on by Fonseca was the law that mandates traceability of Brazilian cattle. Passed in November this year, it forces breeders to adopt sustainable practices, as well as sanitary measures to prevent livestock from being bred in deforestation areas, for instance.
To Fonseca, the adoption of the law should differentiate between legal breeders and illegal ones. "Those who wish to be on the international market and work with Abiec members are going to have to meet our demands [for cattle traceability]," he said. "We need to have modern, sustainable, productive cattle breeding."
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
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