Brazil and other developing countries are benefiting from greater per capita income and growth of the population and, consequently, of the consumer market, which are boosting the global demand for meat and other animal products to record levels.
Study “The state of food and agriculture”, elaborated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), also shows that Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia were the regions that registered the highest per capita consumption of cattle products over the last four decades.
The forecast is that by 2018 beef production in Latin America should grow 75% as against 2000. The study also shows that livestock farming answers to 40% of total global agricultural production and is a source of employment and food safety to almost 1 billion people.
Brazil, according to the FAO, already answers to 7% of global production of meats and forecasts point at growth of 50% for the next 10 years. Last year, production of meats (beef, pork and poultry) was 24 million tons. Of this total, 5.2 million tons were exported and generated revenues of US$ 24 billion.
In the opinion of exporters and cattle farmers, notwithstanding the constant growth of domestic consumption, the country should have exportable surplus and, therefore, should significantly expand its participation in the international beef market.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the ratio between Brazilian exports and global trade show that in 2018/19, foreign sales of Brazilian beef should represent 60.6% of global trade. Pork represents 21% of trade, and chicken should represent 89.7% of global trade. These results show that Brazil should maintain its position as the main global exporter of beef and chicken.
For these projections to be confirmed, Brazil is doing its homework to consolidate markets and win new ones. This year, for example, meats should have new focuses in trade. The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock informs that negotiations for opening the beef market should be turned to Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia and Colombia. Regarding pork, the Ministry of Agriculture is going to work on inserting the product in Japan, the European Union, Croatia and North Korea, as well as trying to expand the quota for export to Russia.
The same work should be developed to increase the volume of chicken sold to the Russians, as well as possible entry of the product into the markets of Uruguay, Colombia, Senegal, Pakistan and Malaysia.
This year the Ministry of Agriculture is going to intensify delegations to reduce barriers in potential import markets. There will be over 20. In March a delegation should travel to Central America – the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama and Guatemala – for negotiation of pork, poultry and dairy. China should remain among the government’s priorities.
The delegation to the Asian country should proceed with the attempt at opening the market to meats and dairy. Still next month, the Philippines, North and South Korea and Japan, as well as Egypt, Iran and Lebanon are nations to be worked.
Great Travels
Forecasts by the CLIA, an international association of cruise companies, show that this year the number of cruise passengers should reach 14.3 million, growth of 6.4% over 2009. The largest volume of travelers should leave the United States, an estimated 10.7 million.
In Brazil, the cruise market expanded rapidly in the late 1990s and the potential is currently estimated at around 1.5 million people. Cruise enterprises worldwide have noticed that the country could be a great destination and started investing in expansion of the sector.
Furthermore, logistics is among the factors stunting the growth of the Brazilian cruise market: “The country may lose a large share of the forecasted global demand, as well as the considerable revenues as it does not have adequate tourist ports,” warns Ricardo Amaral, president of the Abremar (the Brazilian Association of Maritime Companies).
However, the national market has grown and reached 520,000 guests in the 2008/2009 season, being 75,000 foreign and 445,000 Brazilian. In the current season, the estimate is for 900,000 tourists to go on cruises in Brazil to visit the coast, considered by specialists among the most beautiful worldwide.
The maritime cruise sector has been registering annual growth of 33%, on average, and has been contributing significantly to the economy of cities where vessels stop, and to job generation, one of the sectors most benefited by the activity in the country.
According to the president at Abremar, this season, the number of employees should exceed 45,000. Last year, among direct and indirect jobs, 39,138 posts were generated.
Fifth
Brazil is the fifth main cement consumer market in the world. The turnover is 51.4 million tons a year. Up to 2007, the country occupied the ninth position in the ranking. From then on, the country overtook Italy, Spain, Russia and Japan. Votorantin answers to 40.7% of the Brazilian cement market.
