Cattle slaughter increased 4.4%, hogs and pigs slaughter rose 2.3% and chicken slaughter dropped 1.2% in the first quarter of 2018 over the first quarter of 2017. In the comparison between the first quarter of 2018 and the fourth quarter of 2017, cattle slaughter fell 4.2%, hogs and pigs slaughter dropped 3.1% and chicken slaughter increased 3.5%, reaching 1.48 billion head. Milk acquisition hit 6.0 billion liters, registering the first increase in a first quarter after three consecutive years of drops. It rose 2.4% in relation to the first quarter of 2017 and reduced 8.3% in relation to the immediately previous quarter. Leather acquisition increased 2.7% over the first quarter of 2017 and retreated 2.0% in relation to the immediately previous quarter. On the other hand, the production of eggs rose 7.1% compared with the first quarter of 2017, adding up to 846.75 million dozens, and declined 1.3% over the previous quarter. The publication including the results of the quarterly surveys of livestock can be accessed on the right side.

In the first quarter of 2018, 7.72 million cattle head under some sort of sanitary inspection were slaughtered.  That volume was 4.2% lower than the one recorded in the immediately previous quarter and 4.4% higher than the one in the first quarter of 2017. The drop over the last quarter of the previous year was due to the consumption of meat in the festivities in the end of the year.

Compared with the first quarters of the previous years, cattle slaughter registered a recovery in relation to the last two years, getting closer to the 2015 data, when 7.74 million animals were slaughtered.

The slaughter of more 323.46 thousand cattle head in the first quarter of 2018 over the same period a year ago was leveraged by the increase in 17 out of the 27 Federation Units - FUs.

Among those with a contribution above 1.0%, there were increases in:  São Paulo (+125.56 thousand head), Mato Grosso (+89.67 thousand head), Minas Gerais (+61.55 thousand head), Paraná (+48.64 thousand head), Rio Grande do Sul (+40.64 thousand head), Rondônia (+30.03 thousand head), Goiás (+29.40 thousand head), Santa Catarina (+10.74 thousand head), Mato Grosso do Sul (+8.37 thousand head) and Acre (+2.51 thousand head).

On the other hand, the biggest reductions were recorded in: Tocantins (-39.52 thousand head), Pará
(-33.34 thousand head), Maranhão (-13.21 thousand head) and Bahia (-10.59 thousand head).

Mato Grosso still led cattle slaughter, with 15.6% of the national share, followed by Mato Grosso do Sul (11.2%) and Goiás (10.1%).

Slaughter of hogs and pigs has best result for a first quarter since 1997

10.72 million head of hogs and pigs were slaughtered in the first quarter of 2018, representing a drop of 3.1% in relation to the immediately previous quarter and an increase of 2.3% over the same period in 2017. This was the best result for a first quarter since the beginning of the survey in 1997.

The slaughter of more 236.44 thousand head of hogs and pigs in the first quarter of 2018, in relation to the same period a year ago, was leveraged by rises in the slaughter in 14 out of the 25 Federation Units that take part in the survey. Among the States with a share over 1%, the increases were in: Paraná (+91.92 thousand head), Mato Grosso do Sul (+81.51 thousand head), São Paulo (+54.29 thousand head), Minas Gerais (+27.73 thousand head), Santa Catarina (+11.67 thousand head) and Rio Grande do Sul (+309 head). Conversely, the reductions took place in: Mato Grosso (-23.68 thousand head) and Goiás (-23.61 thousand head).

Santa Catarina remained leading the slaughter of hogs and pigs, with 26.3% of the national participation, followed by Paraná (21.2%) and Rio Grande do Sul (18.9%).

Slaughter of chicken falls 1.2% over Q1 2017

In the first quarter of 2018, 1.48 billion chicken head were slaughtered This figure represented an increase of 3.5% over the immediately previous quarter and a drop of 1.2% compared with the same period in 2017.

The slaughter of less 18.05 million chicken head in the first quarter of 2018, in relation to the same period in the previous year, was determined by drops in the slaughter in 13 out of the 24 Federation Units analyzed in the survey. Among those with a contribution above 1.0%, there were decreases in: Minas Gerais (-16.75 million head), Paraná (-6.43 million head), Santa Catarina (-6.01 million head), Mato Grosso (-2.30 million head), Mato Grosso do Sul (-891.68 thousand head) and the Federal District (-877.87 thousand head).

On the other hand, increases were reported in: São Paulo (+7.10 million head), Rio Grande do Sul (+2.91 million head), Bahia (+2.22 million head), Pará (+1.94 million head) and Goiás (+1.32 million head).

Paraná remained leading by a wide margin the slaughter of chicken in Brazil, with 30.9% of the national participation, followed by Santa Catarina (14.4%) and Rio Grande do Sul (14.4%).

Milk acquisition increases after three years of drops

The acquisition of raw milk by establishments under some sort of sanitary inspection – either federal, state or municipal – was of 6.0 billion liters in the first quarter of 2018, the first increase after three years of consecutive drops in the first quarters. The volume was 8.3% lower than the immediately previous quarter, though 2.4% higher than that reached in the same period of 2017. The first quarter is typically characterized by a seasonal drop in the production of milk, right after the peak in the last quarter of the year.

In the comparison between the first quarter of 2018 with the same period last year, the acquisition of more 140.80 million liters of milk at national level was leveraged by the increase in 15 out of the 26 FUs investigated in the Quarterly Survey of Milk. Compared with the acquisition in the first quarter of 2017, the biggest increases took place in the South Region: more 54.81 million liters in Paraná, more 50.13 million in Santa Catarina and more 23.88 million in Rio Grande do Sul. Pará registered the most intense reduction (-11.75 million liters).

Minas Gerais continued to lead milk acquisition by a wide margin, with 25.7% of the national acquisition, followed by Rio Grande do Sul (13.7%) and Paraná (11.7%).

Leather acquisition rises 2.7% over Q1 2017

The tanning houses investigated in the Quarterly Survey of Leather reported to have received 8.58 million whole cattle raw hides in the first quarter of 2018. That volume was 2.0% lower than the one recorded in the immediately previous quarter and 2.7% higher than the one posted in the first quarter of 2017.

In the comparison between the first quarters of 2017 and 2018, the more 228.87 thousand whole cattle raw hides, at national level, came from the increase in the acquisitions in nine out of the 20 Federation Units investigated in the survey. The positive highlights in absolute numbers came from São Paulo (+175.02 thousand pieces), Goiás (+148.48 thousand pieces), Rio Grande do Sul (+107.78 thousand pieces) and Mato Grosso do Sul (+79.40 thousand pieces). The biggest absolute reductions took place in Minas Gerais (-104.77 thousand pieces) and Tocantins (-82.10 thousand pieces).

Holding 16.3% of the national production, Mato Grosso remained leading the reception of cattle hides by tanning houses, followed by Mato Grosso do Sul (13.6%) and São Paulo (12.5%).

Production of eggs increases 7.1% over Q1 2017

The production of hen´s eggs was of 846.75 million dozens in the first quarter of 2018. This figure was 1.3% smaller than that of the immediately previous quarter and 7.1% bigger than that of the first quarter of 2017.

In the comparison between the first quarters of 2018 and 2017, the production of more 56.20 million dozens of eggs, at national level, was leveraged by the increases in 21 out of the 26 FUs with eligible chicken farms. The most intense increases were recorded in São Paulo (+17.12 million dozens), Mato Grosso (+8.34 million dozens), Goiás (+6.24 million dozens), Minas Gerais (+5.60 million dozens) and Espírito Santo (+4.58 million dozens).

Holding 29.7% of the national production, the state of São Paulo remained as the biggest producer of eggs among the Federation Units, followed by Minas Gerais (9.6%), Espírito Santo (8.7%) and Paraná (8.6%).