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Buenos Aires (AFP)
The Argentine government extended restrictions on beef exports for two months on Tuesday, suspended in May and then partially reopened under a quota system in order to moderate prices in the domestic market.
Through a joint resolution published this Tuesday in the Official Gazette, the Ministries of Productive Development and Agriculture extended until October 31 the limitation of meat shipments abroad to 50% of the average exported last year.
“The impact of the measures that temporarily limited foreign sales has begun to show positive results,” said the resolution.
The ministries argued that in the domestic market “after two months in force, prices stabilized and even showed some retraction in different links of the chain”, so “it can be seen that the measures taken have met the objective of reducing the dynamics of prices”.
According to the latest report from the Chamber of Meat Industry and Commerce (Ciccra), in July the price of meat at retail counters fell between 0.9% and 2% after rising 8.2% in June.
In May, the government had halted beef exports in an attempt to contain the rise in prices of this staple food product for Argentines. They had increased 76% in the domestic market in the year-on-year comparison, with a strong impact on the increase in the cost of living.
The following month, the gradual reopening was announced with a quota system until reaching 50% of the monthly volume exported on average in 2020 and reserving some cuts to the domestic market.
Argentine beef exports totaled some 897,500 tons in 2020, worth close to $ 2,710 million, according to the Argentine Beef Promotion Institute (IPCVA).
The government also launched a livestock plan to encourage increased production in the long term and overcome the historical barrier of 3 million tons per year of beef.
Inflation in Argentina, one of the highest in the world, accumulated 29.1% between January and July, while the year-on-year increase in the price index stood at 51.8%, according to official data.
© 2021 AFP
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