They take advantage of the exchange rate to export meat and sales increase
3 min read
68% more heads of cattle have been exported than what was sent to the foreign market in 2021.
In this period, 232,704 head of cattle have been exported, 68% more than what was sent to the foreign market in the same period in 2021. Exports of live cattle as of May cut have achieved historical figures. This meant an income of US$184 million and, for the same period of 2021, it was US$78 million, with a positive variation of 135%.
This year, as of May, 15,374 tons of meat and offal have been traded, while in 2021 they were 20,762 tons, down 0.25%. And despite the fact that the momentum of the exchange rate has some looking for more areas to export, foreign meat sales remain low for their potential.
Argued, the head of the Office of Planning and Economic Studies of Fedegan, Óscar Cubillos, that due to the inflationary dynamics that is experienced worldwide, “due to the rise in meat prices, many countries have reduced consumption because the price of meat It’s gone up all over the world.” However, he explained that “in the case of live animals, although the price has also risen in all countries, we are still the most competitive in the world.”
The reason why they are all Middle Eastern countries is that “despite the issue of exchange rates, the depreciation of the Colombian peso, we are a country that manages very good prices and the second thing is because they are Arab countries and they they prefer to take the raw material to make the sacrifice under their culture”. This year the main buying countries for live cattle are Egypt (194,769 head), Saudi Arabia (19,712 head), Jordan (11,636 head) and Lebanon (6,587 head). In addition, he explains that sales had been on a downward trend due to the pandemic, but that this year they had a rebound in exports due to the Ramadan festivities, which are celebrated in May, “they were able to celebrate again in a normal environment and that is why the demand increased,” he added.
After 2 months Meat exports pick up again when they fell 33.71%, “in May there was a very good dynamism in meat, it is already trying to recover, but what happened in March and April decreased exports a lot”.
“We have Venezuela as a neighbor, the only country that is not free of foot-and-mouth disease, and our border is 2,219 kilometers long, the entire vaccination issue was handled by the Ministry of Agriculture and that is how those foot-and-mouth outbreaks entered,” he explained. Although exports remain on the rise, it is a relatively young market. This is mainly due to the fact that Colombia lost its sanitary status in 2018 and 2019.
Cubillos says that it recovered in 2020, and although meat exports began in 2013 to Venezuela, logistics with a neighboring country was not complicated, since basic refrigeration and ground transportation were needed to place the shipments.
Although the export figures compared to production in 2021 are low, since in meat it represents 6.3% and in live cattle it represents 0.8%. However, with the new health status, the market was allowed to open to 20 meat countries and four live cattle countries. Posted by Irac.info, news agency.
