In the first 6 months of the year, 7.5 million tons of beef cuts were slaughtered and exports were record. But good brands in volume are not reflected in good prices, neither for producers nor for exporters.
Monday, July 24, 2023
Although the first half of 2023 closed with record slaughter and exports of carne vaccine for that period in the last 20 years, the reasons for this increased consumption and sale abroad are not so encouraging, linked to the drought, as far as the domestic market is concerned, and the lower prices paid by China, the largest buyer of Argentine bovine cuts.
This is how he stated Daniel Urciavice president of the Federation of Argentine Regional Refrigeration Industries (FIFRA) and the Institute for the Promotion of Argentine Beef, in dialogue with the Aire de Campo program of Radio Perfil (FM 101.9 and AM 1190, in CABA).
Urcía specified that “in terms of volume, we have been exporting very well.” The first half of 2023 is slightly above the same period of the previous year. “Peror in value, it is 20% below international prices. The photo of the export volume goes one way, the one of the context in which it is exported is another” he graphed.
He added that “in the different countries with which we compete, we have different exchange rates, withholdings, prohibited cuts. When you adjust the market by price, as it has been all this year, you undoubtedly feel differently, because the competitiveness of the Argentine producer and exporter is not the same as that of the Uruguayan or Brazilian. That is the main difference we have with competing countries”.
Argentina specifies new markets to export meat: Mexico, Panama, Barbados and reopening with China
He pointed out that in the first semester there was a record work, of 7.5 M/t. “This places us in the best first semesters of the last 20 years, because it also there is higher domestic consumption, but you are adjusting for price. So, what is good news for the consumer, for the productive apparatus is decapitalization ”, he explained.
Urcía recognized that the drought, from spring of last year until well into this winter, had its effect and modified the production cycle. There were many producers who had to send cows to slaughter to reduce the stock in the fields. From March to June, there was constant slaughter of approximately 220,000 8-toothed cows, which is the adult cow, and on the other hand, there is constant slaughter of steers and 2-toothed heifers throughout the year.
The rise that comes
“Young animals are generally destined for domestic consumption and they are the ones that could not be sent to that breeding network, because there was no grass. So it was necessary to carry out the confinement, anticipating the completion and once the animal is finished, sending it to slaughter at market prices, which are far behind inflation, but are accumulating pressure. At some point a price recomposition will be logical. I think it will be an important leap, a strong recomposition because the delay and the lack of supply are being generated, so different variables are going to come together”.
Quoting the analyst Federico Santangelo, Urcía recalled that beef always rises by 30 or 40% monthly jumps or maybe more, unlike other food products that have progressive increases of 3 to 5% per month.
Regarding the prices that China is paying for the canned and manufactured beef cuts that it buys from Argentina, Urcía said that the Chinese planned their purchases in the long term, while their markets/borders were closed due to the pandemic. They opened at the end of December and have continued to import considerable volumes of meat in general and still have quite a bit of stock.
“I always remember that 10 years ago, when we started going to China, one of the problems there was the lack of cold storage, and they have largely overcome that, which enables them to generate these stocks and thus regulate purchases. They had stocks and with the new purchases they are compensating for what they paid dearly. This may be the future reference price”.
Competitiveness is sought
That is why we have to see the competitiveness that we must have when producing. Remove taxes that do not make sense locally and work on something no less: having a tariff agreement with China. Because, on the one hand, there is the health agreement and on the other, the tariff agreements. And unlike Australia, which in 2025 stops paying tariffs, Argentina will continue paying tariffs and will have one more differential, which will reduce competitiveness. That has to be worked on like Mercosur -surely Brazil and Uruguay will also be interested- and we have to get strong on that point. And internally, work on those aspects that do not contribute to competitiveness: improve the sanitary standard of refrigerators, remove distorting municipal and provincial taxes, streamline the single tax account, return taxes on time, not have different types of exchange, remove withholdings, there is a lot to work on internally.
Rol social
On the other hand, in his role as Vice President of the IPCVAUrcía highlighted the Passion for Argentine Meat Contest for students from all over the country, organized by the institute and whose Grand Champion award was obtained by School No. 321 of San Salvador de Jujuy, as announced days ago at Rural Expo 23.
The purpose of the contest was to encourage research and debate on livestock production, sustainability and the contributions of beef to people’s health in classrooms throughout the country.
The students from the winning school presented a video in which they related different aspects related to beef, in a television news format.
More than 1,000 schools from all over the country were interested in this first edition of the contest and finally there were 105 works evaluated by a group that distinguished 32 works from 17 provinces.
In this sense, Urcía highlighted that “the Institute’s internal promotion commission discussed the need to start generating this educational content, linked to livestock production, industry, sustainability, the chain’s contribution to the country and nutrition and, once we developed it, the idea of the national contest arose.”
The contest offered a first national prize consisting of, among other gifts for each of the students and the winning school, an educational trip (study and recreational) for the winning course and its responsible teacher to the City of Buenos Aires with a stay of three days and two nights, including a visit to the Rural Exhibition of Palermo 2023, which will take place this week.
Regarding the contest, Urcía pointed out that “this contest has mobilized us and thus with the Institute we are fulfilling a social role. For many of these kids it will be their first plane ride. So I think that with that we are generating a share of closeness with the community”.
And he added: “It is good that, at this age, children have knowledge of what livestock is and what the nutritional aspect of meat is. Then they grow up and make decisions and when decisions are made, the ideal is that decisions are made with prior knowledge, ”he concluded.
2023-07-24 20:31:00
#Argentina #record #semester #slaughter #export #beef #Perfil.com
