Del Norte to sign exclusive agreement to supply embryos and semen to Chinese province

This Thursday, May 22, a ceremony will be held to receive the bulls that President Lacalle Pou gifted to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. The event will take place in Jilin Province, in northern China, with Uruguay’s Agriculture Minister Alfredo Fratti in attendance. Minister Fratti will also present Uruguayan embryos as a way to encourage this type of exchange.

Juan Pablo Helguera, director of Agro Del Norte — the company that handled the bull shipment — said a memorandum of understanding and cooperation will be signed on this occasion with Jilin Province. Under the agreement, Del Norte and the local importer will enter into an exclusive contract to import semen and embryos from Uruguay.

Initially, the focus will be on Hereford, Angus, and Braford embryos — the same breeds as those gifted by the minister — but there is potential for all breeds produced in Uruguay. Some final details remain in the health certificate, which are expected to be resolved by next month.

Helguera said that “China is slowly recovering” from the pandemic’s impact, and while “it’s not at its best moment, we believe it has already hit bottom and the market will begin to stabilize going forward.”

Regarding the possibility of resuming live cattle exports, he said that “it should not be ruled out,” though current market conditions are not favorable for Uruguay, as “Australia is selling at lower prices.”

Helguera will spend the next 20 days traveling through various regions of China, visiting clients who previously imported live cattle from Uruguay.