Argentina now has the right to export chilled and frozen beef to the United States. The Argentine inspection systems for slaughter and further processing of beef have passed the necessary checks for approval by the Department of Agriculture and Food Inspection. Previously, access to the US market was limited to cooked and ready-to-eat processed beef.

Argentina will have a quota of 20 thousand tons for beef exports to the United States, the same as that of Uruguay, and a 26.4% tariff will be applied to trade outside the quota. Next year, Argentine beef production is projected to increase by 2% to 3.0 million tons in slaughter weight. Export markets will benefit from an increase in supply, while high inflation and a heavily devalued peso have already negatively affected domestic purchasing power.

As a result, Argentinean beef became extremely attractive to world markets - beef exports from January to October amounted to 289 thousand tons, which is 71% more compared to the same period last year, and almost all of this volume fell on China. The reintroduction of export tax on beef - four pesos per dollar - was not enough to limit the outflow of products to world markets.

However, shipments to the United States may be limited to shipments of processed beef in the short term, given that China is currently buying up any available beef in Argentina and the rest of South America. High dependence on China, which this year accounted for more than 50% of Argentine beef exports, makes the country dependent on fluctuations in demand in China.

SOURCE: meatinfo