China set to authorise 25 more Brazilian beef plants this year – report
Brazil should get the green light for another 25 meatpackers to start exporting beef to China before the end of this year, according to INTL FCStone Consulting.
China currently needs to import more beef to cover shortages in animal protein supplies following large-scale losses of pigs to African Swine Fever.
To secure this increase, Beijing will need to add to the 15 Brazilian slaughterhouses currently allowed to supply China with beef, according to FCStone consultant, Caio Toledo.
“With the US restricted because of the trade dispute, there is only Brazil and Australia,” Reuters reports him as saying.
New authorisations may come after Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro visits China in early August. This would potentially have big impacts on Brazilian beef exports – boosting shipments to China by an estimated 242% to 70,000 tonnes per month. Shipments to all destinations could rise by 60% to about 200,000 tonnes per month.
Despite the limited number of authorized plants, Brazil exported more than 800,000 tonnes of beef in the first half of this year.