Meat Exports Increase 4% in March

04/04/2017 - 11h53

The Brazilian Trade Balance registered a record surplus of US$ 7,2 billion in March, and even including the effects of the so-called Weak Flesh Operation - which is investigating a corruption scheme in meat inspections -, meat exports increased.

The overall balance, released by the Minister for Development, Industry and Foreign Trade on Monday (the 3rd of April) is the highest surplus for the month of March ever recorded in the series which started being recorded in 1989.

Meat exports (Beef, Pork and Chicken) increased 4,4% in March compared to the same period in 2016, according to calculations based upon the average daily figures.

At the end of March, however, the Ministry detected a reduction in the sale of meat to other countries after the Federal Police operation.

Until the third week of the month, the average daily value of exports was US$ 63 million. In the fourth week, it fell to US$ 50 million. "This somewhat lower average may have denoted exporters' cautions but didn't have a significant impact, as the government reacted quickly" said Herlon Brandon, director of statistics and exportation support for the Ministry.

According to Brandão, "the worst has already passed". "There was a scare right after the operation, but we noted that shipments normalized and closed out the month with an increase in the exportation of meat", he said.

Exports of beef totaled US$ 404 million in March, which represents a decrease of 6,1% compared to the same period in 2016.

Brandão counters that beef was already suffering from a decrease in exportation, and in the first two months, had already fallen by 4,5%.

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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