The National Service of Health and Agri-food Quality (Senasa) has allowed the export of the 7 popular cuts whose export the government of Alberto Fernández had banned from January 2022 to 31 December 2023. This is the roast with or without bone, skirt, matambre, roast tapa, buttock, shoulder and sous vide.
In this way, foreign markets begin to compete freely with local demand, which is why greater pressure on prices is expected. But from the meat supply chain they say that in the medium term the change should not be significant, and that greater demand will be followed by greater supply thanks to greater production incentives.
“The approval of the seven export cuts is very timely, it allows everyone to find the point between consumption and export that they have to do,” he said in a dialogue with Rural Clarin Carlos Odriozola, secretary of the Argentine Rural Society.
Odriozola explained it In Argentina, 110 to 115 kilos of meat protein are consumed per year per inhabitant, which places the country in second place in the world rankings. “The supply and consumption of meat in Argentina is huge, so I would not be afraid of losing this alternative,” said the SRA director.
“It may be that the consumption of these cuts will reduce a little, but I think it will be the silver lining of increased production. We have been stuck at the same production level of around 2.5-3 million tonnes for 50 years of beef, depending on the year, with a very low slaughter weight, while the countries around us have tripled production. I think we have a lot to improve through efficiency and increased production. With very few improvements in pregnancy, weaning and slaughter rates, the deficit that the export of the seven cuts can generate will be covered and would give very important competition to the sector,” explained Odriozola.
Along the same lines, Leonardo Rafael, of the Chamber of Slaughterers and Suppliers (Camya), believes that the unblocking of exports of these seven cuts should not generate any damage or improvement for domestic consumption. “It doesn’t move the needle, it’s more for the grandstand, it won’t bring any benefits or harm. These cuts do not lower the value of the meat or generate more kilos for domestic consumption, that’s a lie. And that product has an external positioning,” he says.
Then he warns: “On the other hand, if exports are worth more than consumption, this will affect agricultural prices more, but it is not because of the seven cuts but because if you sell in dollars and buy in pesos you have a differential.”
This was announced by Mario Ravettino, president of the ABC Exporters Consortium 2023 ended with a meat export volume of 920,000 tonnes and a value close to 2.7 billion dollars.
“It was a good year in terms of volumes and a very lean year for foreign currency earnings,” summarized the president of the Consortium.
In any case, he announced in an interview with Radio Cologne that there are “excellent prospects” for 2024 because the Government has informed meat processing plants that in addition to the culmination of the ban on 7 cuts, Export affidavits and price monitoring will also be eliminatedrestrictions imposed by Alberto Fernández and highly criticized by the sector.
According to Ravettino, the volume that could be shipped is not important due to the 7 prohibited cuts. “It could mean 80,000 of the 920,000 tons. But it means that Argentina is inserting itself back into the world. The manufacturer can start producing because Argentina has possibilities“, he indicated.
Odriozola’s calculation of additional exportable volume is a little more generous. “The seven cuts represent around 35% of the average beef, that’s almost a million tonnes per year. If 33% of this is sent abroad, there would be 300,000 tonnes more added to exports“, he said, and added: “They are all interesting cuts for international markets, they can go very well in many countries, they all have their market.”
Source: Clarin
