Cattle slaughter beats crisis and grows 3.8% in 2017
March 21, 2018 09h00 AM | Last Updated: March 21, 2018 12h36 PM
In a year marked by a decreased demand for beef in the domestic market and by the Federal Police's Weak Flesh operation, the Livestock sector managed to close 2017 with a 3.8% increase in cattle slaughter. One point one million more cattle were slaughtered, reaching 30.8 million. This was the first annual growth after falls between 2014 and 2016. The information is from the Quarterly Survey of Animal Slaughter, released today by the IBGE.
In April 2017, the sector recorded a 15.6% drop in slaughter, the second largest monthly drop in the time series started in 1997. The main reasons were the interruption of activities and collective holidays granted by cold stores belonging to the company investigated by the police operation. As a result, the second quarter of 2017 was -3.0%.
Another challenge faced by the sector was the slowdown in the domestic demand for beef, due to the economic crisis. This is shown by the drop in prices of all cuts of meat. While the Extended Consumer Price Index (IPCA) of 2017 was 2.95%, for example, Fillet mignon had a deflation of 5.53%, Rump, of 4.95% and Rib, of 2.52%.
"It was a challenging year for the Livestock sector because of the low demand in the domestic market and the Weak Flesh operation of the Federal Police," said Angela Lordão, IBGE's Livestock Manager.
According to Angela, the 12.1% increase in beef exports, whose main buyers are Hong Kong and China, and the greater supply of animals due to investments in reproduction contributed to overcome the crisis.
Mato Grosso kept leading the Federation Unit ranking of cattle slaughtering in 2017, holding 15.6% of the national participation, followed by its two neighbors in the Central-West: Mato Grosso do Sul (11.1%) and Goiás (10.3%).
Slaughter of pigs and hogs grows and hits record
The slaughtering of pigs and hogs, which beats that of cattle since 2008, grew 2.0% and reached a new record in 2017: 43.2 million head. According to the Livestock manager, crops contributed to the drop in the production cost of pigs and hogs.
"Super crops and the reduction in the price of corn and soybean meal reduced the cost with animal feed and the producers could expand the activity," she concluded.
