Brazilian meatpackers have reduced production and granted collective vacations at some plants after exhausting the production eligible to enter China under the preferential tariff.
According to the president of the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association (Abiec), Roberto Perosa, the industry is going through an adjustment period following the slowdown in purchases by the country's main export market.
Perosa said companies are redirecting part of their production to the domestic market and seeking to expand sales to other destinations, while acknowledging that no market can absorb, in the short term, the volumes previously demanded by China.
According to the executive, companies with a more diversified export portfolio have only reduced production, while those more dependent on China have partially suspended operations and granted collective vacations. Although part of the beef is still in transit, Perosa said that, in practice, the entire quota has already been shipped and that production intended for the Chinese market will remain suspended until favorable commercial conditions return.
Abiec is now focusing its efforts on expanding market access to destinations such as Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, and Turkey, while also following the negotiations between Brazil and the European Union regarding sanitary requirements. In the domestic market, the slowdown in activity has already begun to be reflected in lower finished cattle prices, although the association expects prices to find a new equilibrium as the industry reorganizes production and diversifies its export markets, according to Pecuária.
