MGAP temporarily suspended live export of steers for direct slaughter
The Ministry of Livestock (MGAP) reported on Monday that “the issuance of new live export permits for immediate slaughter is temporarily suspended. We will notify when permits resume.” The decision was communicated by email by Dr. Sandra Acosta, head of the Animal Health Division.
This notification has been known since last week. “I interpret it as a nod from Minister (Alfredo) Fratti to the industry,” said one intermediary, who was in contact with the two main exporters to understand the scope and impact of the measure. According to the source, the resolution resulted in a sort of “tacit agreement” between exporters and MGAP, leaving the rest of the live cattle trade (calves, heifers, breeding females) unrestricted in exchange for suspending the shipment of animals ready for slaughter. “I don’t think this measure can have a big impact on the market. I also didn’t receive any complaints or alarms from the export side,” added another agent who also works in live exports. In fact, there has been no business in this category in recent weeks.
During the 2024/25 fiscal year, live cattle exports reached 386,768 head, representing a year-on-year increase of 24.5%. Total export value exceeded US$ 353 million FOB, with an average price per head of US$ 913. According to data handled by ARU, animals destined for slaughter totaled around 12,000 head during the last fiscal year.
In the first half of this year, about 27,000 steers were exported live, but many of them were not destined directly for slaughter, such as the approximately 6,000 shipped to Israel.
Minister Fratti, speaking at a press conference yesterday, mentioned other figures. He said that in 2024, 14,621 animals were shipped directly for slaughter and that so far this year the number stands at 22,711, “so by the end of the year that figure could double.” He added that the “alert” is because there are currently 1,030 workers from the slaughterhouse industry on unemployment insurance, six companies closed, and that slaughter cattle prices are high.
“Terrible signal”
The measure imposed by MGAP was not well received by agricultural associations. Rafael Ferber, president of the Rural Association of Uruguay, told El País that “it’s a terrible signal because it limits cattle prices; after all, that animal was a calf, and it goes against all the government’s plans to produce more calves because it affects the main thing, which is their price.”
For his part, Rafael Normey, president of the Rural Federation, described the measure as “disastrous and negative.” First, because Minister Fratti “told us he wasn’t going to take measures against live exports, and beyond that, we also don’t understand its scope, the time frame it applies to, or which categories it affects.”
Before taking office, Fratti stated in an interview with radio Carve that live exports “are here to stay, that it’s a safety valve, but that doesn’t mean we’ll become a big Turkish ranch,” referring to the market that takes more than 90% of Uruguay’s live cattle shipments. “I don’t want an interventionist government, but neither a distracted one,” he commented at the time.
