In Q3 of 2011, 7.284 million cattle head were slaughtered, representing an increase of 3.1% in relation to the immediately previous quarter and a drop of 1.6% in relation to the same period of 2010. Conversely, the slaughter of 1.347 billion chickens accounted for an increase of 2.8% in relation to the immediately previous quarter and of 5.0% against Q3 2010. This performance sets a historical level in the quarterly series of chicken slaughter.

The slaughter of pigs and hogs also set a record, with 9.065 million head, an increase of 5.2% in relation to the immediately previous quarter and of 9.1% in relation to the same period in 2010.

In the same period, 5.307 billion liters of raw milk were purchased for processing, accounting for a rise of 2.2% in relation to the same period of 2010 and of 4.8% in relation to Q2 2011. Conversely, purchases of cattle raw hide totaled 8.507 million units, a drop of 4.8% in relation to Q3 2010 and a virtual stability against Q2 2011. The production of hen eggs was of 646.878 million dozens, a growth of 2.0% compared with Q2 2011.

Cattle slaughter rises again in Q3 

In Q3 2011, 7.284 million cattle head were slaughtered, representing a rise of 3.1% in relation to the immediately previous quarter and a drop of 1.6% in relation to Q3 2010. After four consecutive negative quarters, there was an increase in the slaughtered volume, though below the ones of Q2 and Q3 2010. 

The accumulated weight of cattle carcasses ( 1.742 million tons) was higher than that of the previous quarter (5.6%) and below the one registered in Q3 2010 (-1.7%).

The animals slaughtered in Q3 2011 were, on average, heavier (239 kg/carcass) than those slaughtered in Q2 2011 (234kg/carcass), but they were as heavy as those slaughtered in the same period a year ago (239 kg/carcass). 

The slaughter of bulls grew 13.0%, whereas that of cows dropped 9.5% in relation to the previous quarter. Nevertheless, the volume of cows slaughtered increased by 12.7% compared with Q3 2010. Considering the contribution of the slaughter of bulls and cows to the total volume of slaughter in third quarters, that was the highest rate in the last four years. 

Mato Grosso registered a growth of 17.2%, enlarging its leadership in the national ranking, with 16.8% of the total slaughtered cattle, followed by São Paulo (11.3%), Mato Grosso do Sul (10.5%), Goiás (9.7%) and Minas Gerais (7.5%). The Central-West contribution of 37.2% to the slaughter of cattle was followed by: Southeast (20.4%), North (20%), South (11.5%) and Northeast (10.9%).

Slaughter of chickens is the highest since 1997, beginning of the survey

In Q3 2011, 1.347 billion head of chickens were slaughtered, an increase of 2.8% in relation to the immediately previous quarter and of 5.0% in relation to Q3 2010. That behavior sets a historical record in the quarterly series of the slaughter of chickens.

Carcass accumulated weight (2.925 million tons) was higher than in Q2 2011 (2.2%) and in Q3 2010 (5.0%). 

The three states of the South account for 59.1% of the national slaughter. Among the exceeding 37 million chickens slaughtered in the whole country between Q2 and Q3 2011, more than 24 million were from Paraná. The Southeast region concentrated 21.4% of the volume slaughtered. Minas Gerais slaughtered 11 million head less, leading to a reduction of 1% in the contribution of the Southeast region. 

424 respondents participated in the survey on the slaughter of chickens. Roraima, Amapá, Maranhão and Rio Grande do Norte are the only Federation Units with no records of chicken slaughter subject to any sort of sanitary inspection.

Pig slaughter also beats record 

In Q3 2011, 9.065 million head of pigs and hogs were slaughtered, an increase of 5.2% in relation to the immediately previous quarter and of 9.1% in relation to Q3 2010. That behavior beat the historical record of the previous quarter.

As to the carcass accumulated weight, the production of 876,742 thousand tons was 6.3% greater than that of the previous quarter in Q3 2011 and 9.7% higher than that of the same period of 2010.

The South region accounted for 66.5% of all the national slaughter of hogs and pigs in Q3 2011. Catarina, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul slaughtered 25.4%, 20.7% and 20.4% of the national total, respectively.

All the states of the South, Southeast and Central-West recorded increases in the slaughter of hogs and pigs.

Purchases of raw milk rises 2.2%

In Q3 2011, 5.307 billion liters of raw milk were purchased, accounting for an increase of 2.2% in relation to the same quarter of 2010 and of 4.8% in relation to Q2 2011. The Southeast region accounted for 40.1% of the total purchases of the product, followed by the South, with 36.9%, and the Central-West, 12.2%. Minas Gerais was the state with the highest number of purchases of raw milk for processing (25.1%), followed by Rio Grande do Sul, with 16.4%, and São Paulo, with 12.3%.

In the comparison between Q3 2011 and Q2 2010, there was an increase of 4.2% in purchases in the South and of 2.3% in the Northeast, the highest positive changes.

The Southeast registered a rise of 1.9% in the production of milk, but dropped in Espírito Santo (-10.6%), Rio de Janeiro (-7.4%) and Minas Gerais (-1.7%). São Paulo was the only state of this region to present a growth (13.4%). The largest drop happened in the North of the country (-5.0%). 

In the monthly comparison between Q3 2011 and Q3 2010, purchases were unchanged in July (-0.9%), recovering growth in August (1.7%) and continuing to grow in September (5.9%).

In the accumulated index of the year up to Q3, 15.857 billion liters of milk had been purchased, an increase of 3.2% compared with 2010.

As for the industrialized milk, there was a register of 5.292 billion liters in Q3 2011, representing increases of 2.1% and 4.9% in relation to Q3 2010 and Q2 2011.

Purchases of raw hide remain unchanged 

In Q3 2011, 8.507 million cattle raw hides were purchased, accounting for a drop of 4.8% in relation to Q3 2010 and remaining unchanged against Q2 2011. Purchases of hides reached 75.6% in this period and the receipt of hides for transformation services accounted for 24.4%.

Comparing Q3 2011 with Q3 2010, the receipt of hides for transformation services dropped (-17.6) in all regions, except in the North, where a growth of 646.0% was registered.

The Central-West region recorded a drop of 15.5% in quantity. Purchases of leather in this region, on the other hand, increased by 18.0% in quantity in the same comparison, mainly driven by the increase in purchases, especially in Mato Grosso. In the Southeast, the third region with the largest amount of purchases of cattle raw hides, the acquisition of the product dropped 20.9%, mainly sustained by the decrease of 24.0% in São Paulo.

Production of hen eggs increases in 2011

In Q3 of 2011, 646.878 million dozens of hen eggs were produced. When compared with Q3 2010, there was a growth of 4.0% in production and of 2.0% against Q2 2011. The upward trend reached its peak in August, when the volume of eggs grew, though below the growth in production of eggs.

The Southeast, bigger national producer, with a 47.8% contribution, dropped 1.3% in Q3 2011 in contrast with Q3 2010. Mato Grosso has kept the pace of growth in production, which was 26.6% higher than that of the same quarter of 2010.