Argentina was the only country among the major meat exporters that fell in volume

The monthly volume of meat exported by Argentina in the first four months of 2022 averaged 65,500 tons of bone-in beef, 2.4 percent less than the average monthly volume for 2021, which was 67.1 thousand tons of bone-in beef. This slight decrease becomes significant when estimating the missing opportunity, given what happened at the same time in competing countries and what prices are available in the global market.

In addition, the monthly average for 2021 was affected by the market intervention carried out in May, when the volumes shipped exceeded all historical records. In comparing seasons, autumn is more abrupt.

“Of the four associated beef exporters, Only Argentina puts in less volume than last year. But then they told you here that there are no export restrictions, ”Mediterranean Foundation economist Juan Manuel Garzón said on the social network Twitter, showing a graph showing meat shipments by product weight produced by Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and the United States in the first quarter of 2021 and 2022. River Plate neighbors increased shipment volume by 22 percent, Brazil grew 34 percent and the United States by 6 percent. that percentage, while Argentina fell 6 percent.

Garzón added: “When the Chinese are paying for meat they haven’t paid for in their recent history, record the prices. What a way for this government to lose trains, no case, everything goes down!”

really the average price paid by the Asian giantthe main client in Argentina with 74 percent of the total volume sold so far this year, increased by 45.5 percent from the first quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2022, from 3,367 dollars per ton to 4,901 dollars per ton. Consequently, the total amount exported from Argentina to China during this period was 31 percent higher than in the first four months of 2021, despite the fact that the volume dropped 9.5 percent, from 150,000 to 136,000 tons. Cattle sales stocks at that destination imposed twelve months ago have caused the Chinese to search for new suppliers, Brazil and Uruguay have raised their hands and are now seeing the consequences.

“As our beef export competitors increased their exports, in both the global context of pandemic and armed conflict, we we reduced exports and we lost more than 1.5 billion dollars in exports“, warned the producers of Carbap (Confederation of Rural Associations of Buenos Aires and La Pampa) in a statement.

From the entity, they considered that “the policy of discouragement for a strategic activity in the development of the territory” of Argentina ”has already been installed and almost no plan or program in this context can reverse it. ” For this reason, they indicated that “it is urgent to change the policy of withdrawal and prohibition for one’s expansion and promotion.”

For Carbap, only through policies that expand the stock of animals and encourage investment to increase supply can the repeatedly mentioned “table of Argentines” be ensured and thus “produce large quantities of exports that improve foreign exchange earnings for foreign trade ”.