Brazil's Agriculture minister, Reinhold Stephanes, said this Thursday, May 28, that the opening of the Chinese market to imports of Brazilian chicken meat should lead to a considerable rise in exports from the sector.
"The opening of this market should generate an increase of approximately 5% in our exports this year, and possibly one of 10% next year, which is very good news."
This week, the Asian country disclosed the list of 22 Brazilian slaughterhouses that are already authorized to sell to the country. "China is a market of nearly US$ 1 billion per year," said the secretary of Foreign Relations for Agribusiness, Célio Porto, in a release issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, referring to the potential for trade between the two countries.
In 2008, the country exported approximately 3.4 million tons of chicken meat. The sales generated revenues of US$ 6.3 billion for the Brazilian agribusiness sector. This year, up until the beginning of May, 1.1 million tons of chicken meat were exported, totaling US$ 1.5 billion.
Egg Exports
Representatives of the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply discussed, this Wednesday, May 27, egg exports with farmers at the Seminar Agribusiness for Exports (AgroEx), held at the Federation of Industries of the State of Rio Grande do Sul (Fiergs), in the city of Porto Alegre.
According to a release issued by the ministry, the organization's Foreign Relations secretary, Célio Porto, stated that Brazil has great potential for expanding foreign sales of eggs. However, farmers must unite into consortia in order to expand the production and be able to cater to the international demand.
According to the release, the director of the Department of International Promotion at the ministry, Eduardo Sampaio Marques, claimed that there is a strong demand for eggs in Middle Eastern countries, in Singapore and in Hong Kong.
Last year, Porto and Marques traveled to Arab countries and were able to take a close look at the local market. In the several meetings that they attended, eggs were among the products most sought by Arabs.
"Brazil may expand its current 8.5% share of international egg trade. We have noticed an increase in sales to the Arab world and, during the trade missions to the Middle East, many importers showed interest in importing eggs from our country," said Marques, according to the release issued by the ministry.
According to the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Brazilian egg exports generated US$ 91.6 million in revenues last year, growth of 85% over 2007. To Arab countries alone, sales in 2008 exceeded US$ 40 million, representing a more than fourfold increase when compared with the previous year.
ABr
