Beef exports fell again in December because of tight cattle supplies and high livestock prices, which led to reduced slaughter at some export plants and shutdowns at others during the two holiday weeks at year-end.

Argentina closed 2025 with exports of 713,364 tons of fresh and frozen beef (product weight, equivalent to 852,000 tons bone-in) for a record value of US$ 3.884 billion.

China, Argentina’s main beef destination, reduced its purchases in 2025. While shipments of bone-in beef and bones to China reached a record 185,362 tons, exports of boneless beef totaled 310,704 tons, the lowest volume since 2018.

Europe, Israel and the United States—Argentina’s second, third and fourth-largest beef destinations—recorded all-time high purchases in 2025.

Exports of beef offal and industrialized beef products reached 10,725 tons in December 2025, worth US$ 25.5 million. For the full year, shipments totaled 122,822 tons (1.6% less than in 2024) for US$ 255.6 million (+27.5% year on year).

After overcoming the main political obstacles following more than two decades of negotiations, the EU–Mercosur agreement now faces an additional delay that complicates its entry into force.

Between Monday and Tuesday this week, China approved the entry of poultry meat from the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and beef from Canada.

In 2025, China imported 98,096 tons of frozen boneless beef from Bolivia, positioning the Andean country as the fourth-largest origin in that segment, surpassing Uruguay.

The quota assigned by China to the different beef suppliers for this year differs significantly when compared with the volumes imported from the main origins in 2025.

US beef and variety meat exports totaled 93,448 mt in October, down 11% year-over-year but the largest since June and 16% above the low volume posted in September, informed the US Meat Export Federation (Usmef) based in USDA data. Muscle cut exports accounted for 67,885 tons.

Cattle prices in Paraguay strengthened for the third consecutive week amid a scenario of scarce supply of grassfed finished animals, an industry source told WBR.

There were no changes in export cattle prices during the week. Crossbred steers of British breeds, with better meat quality, are trading at around Ar$ 7,700–7,900 per kilo carcass weight, while steers from zebu crosses remain at Ar$ 7,400–7,600 per kilo.

China’s intention to apply a “first come, first served” system to the new beef quota that will be in force for the next three years could be detrimental to the value chain, according to analyst Miguel Gorelik.

Demand for slaughter cattle is comfortably exceeding supply, keeping the market overheated, with price increases totaling US$ 0.25 per kilo carcass weight since the start of the year.

There is a combination of very strong demand —driven by improved conditions in international markets— and scarce supply. “Packers’ buyers call you and ask at what price the producer wants to sell,” a livestock broker illustrated yesterday.

Uruguay exported 371,210 head of live cattle in 2025, up 7% (26 thousand) from the previous year and increasing for the third consecutive year, according to the National Meat Institute (INAC). It was also the second-highest annual figure on record, behind only the 420,000 head exported in 2018.

Lower domestic demand for beef typical of the second half of the month is weighing on packers’ buying interest, putting downward pressure on reference prices for slaughter cattle.

Brazilian beef exports fell to a nearly one-year low in the second week of January.

According to information from the Secretaria de Comércio Exterior, shipments totaled 126,254 tons through January 17, at an average value of US$/t 5,544. Excluding data from the first six business days of the year, shipments last week amounted to just 36,947 tons, with a daily average of 7,389 tons—the lowest level since early last year.

The EU–Mercosur agreement assigns several quotas to Mercosur exporters, which go beyond the products of greatest interest to Uruguay. The country will seek to secure a stronger position in the negotiation of the portions to be used for beef, rice, honey and dairy products, Deputy Foreign Minister Valeria Csukasi told the program 100% Mercados.

Any material impact of the Mercosur-EU trade deal on Brazilian beef exports should emerge only from 2027, according to Roberto Perosa, president of the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association (ABIEC), informed Valor.

The average value of slaughter cattle in the region rose for the fourth consecutive week. The World Beef Report Mercosur Steer Index increased by 2 cents in the week to US$ 4.35 per kilo, accumulating a recovery of 10 cents over the past four weeks.