“Uruguay’s Beef Exports Plunge 37% in April, Driven by Drop in Shipments to China”

Las exports of beef Uruguayan they plummeted 37% in Aprilcompared to the volumes of March, which meant a reduction of 13,000 tons compared to the shipments of the previous month, according to data on export requests from the National Customs Directorate (DNA).

According to information from Customs, in April they exported 21,811 tons shipping weight of bovine meat, 13,000 less than in March and 12,000 less than the same month last year, so the interanual variation registered a drop of almost 36%.

The phenomenon was strongly driven by the drop in shipments to Chinaone of the country’s main trading partners, which fell to its minimum of the last 32 months.

These data are known, in turn, within the framework of a new attempt by the government to advance in the free trade agreement (FTA) with the Asian giant. The Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, fernando mattostraveled to the eastern country this week to advance the negotiations.

Beef exports to China fell to their lowest in 32 months

During April, Uruguay registered a significant decrease in the volume exported to China, reaching a total of 14,134 tons, which represents a drop of 8,575 tons compared to March. These numbers imply a collapse of 37.7% per month.

No volumes of those levels were registered since august 2020That is, 32 months ago. Added to this is the fact that this phenomenon of free fall has been going on for 10 consecutive months in the annual comparison.

However, this reality is somewhat offset by the increase in appreciation of frozen product sales to China, both for boneless and boneless cuts.

In the case of the latter, the average price was located at $5,645 per ton, which represents an increase of 480 dollars compared to March (+9,3%) and 800 dollars above the minimum registered in January. Regarding the cuts with bone, the average was $4,627 per tonevidencing an increase in 5,6% in relation to the previous month.

In turn, in the accumulated first quarter of the yearUruguay recorded a total export of beef to China of almost 70,000 tonswhich means a decrease of 30,000 tons, that is to say, of the 30%, compared to the same period in 2022.