The results of the animal production in the third quarter of 2024 pointed out that cattle slaughter rose 15.3% compared with the same period in 2023 and 3.9% compared with the previous quarter. It was the first time ever in which cattle slaughter hit more than 10.00 million head in a quarter.

The slaughter of hogs and pigs increased 2.1% in relation to the same period in 2023 and rose 2.6% compared with the second quarter of 2024. Chicken slaughter rose 2.8% in relation to the same period in 2023 and increased 0.8% compared with the second quarter of 2024.

Acquisition of raw milk was 6.30 billion liters in the third quarter of 2024, a reduction of 0.3% in relation to the third quarter of 2023 and an increase of 7.1% compared with the immediately previous quarter.

Acquisition of rawhide by tanneries rose 17.4% in relation to the same quarter in the previous year and increased 2.7% against the second quarter of 2024, adding up to 10.55 million rawhide pieces.

In the third quarter of 2024, 1.2 billion hen eggs were produced, a rise of 3.0% in relation to the previous quarter and of 10.3% over the amount registered in the same quarter in 2023.

Cattle slaughter hits more than 10.00 million heads in a quarter

10.37 million cattle heads under some type of sanitary inspection were slaughtered in the third quarter of 2024. It was the first time ever that cattle slaughter hit more than 10.00 million heads in a quarter. It increased 15.3% compared with the same period in the previous year and3.9% in relation to the second quarter of 2024.

July was the month with the greatest activity in the quarter, slaughtering 3.59 million heads, a positive change of 22.6% in relation to the same month last year.

Slaughter of females increased 19.6% in relation to the third quarter of 2023, influenced by the drop in the price of calves in the annual comparison, whereas slaughter of males rose 12.5%. Exports of cattle in the quarter hit the unprecedented level of 706.43 thousand tonnes, an increase of 30.6% in the annual comparison, with records for July, August and September (SECEX/MDIC).

The slaughter of more 1.37 million cattle heads in the third quarter of 2024, over the same period a year ago, was leveraged by the increase in 25 out of 27 Federation Units (FUs). Among those with a national share above 1.0%, the most significant increases occurred in: Mato Grosso (+291.70 thousand head), Minas Gerais (+185.73 thousand head), Mato Grosso do Sul (+178.35 thousand head), São Paulo (+168.29 thousand head), Pará (+136.21 thousand head), Goiás (+97.22 thousand head), Rondônia (+71.98 thousand head) and Bahia (+55.18 thousand head).

On the other hand, the most significant drop (64.03 thousand) occurred in Rio Grande do Sul, which still suffers with the flood that occurred in the end of April.

With a national share of 18.3%, Mato Grosso remained leading cattle slaughter, followed by São Paulo (10.4%) and Goiás (10.2%).

Slaughter of hogs and pigs registers a new quarterly record

In the third quarter of 2024, 14.95 million heads of hogs and pigs were slaughtered, representing a rise of 2.1% in relation to the same period in 2023 and of 2.6% in relation to the second quarter of 2024. The survey registered the best month of July in the time series, hitting a new quarterly record in terms of volume of heads of hogs and pigs slaughtered.

The slaughter of 313.02 thousand more head of hogs and pigs in the third quarter of 2024, in relation to the same period a year ago, was leveraged by rises in 15 out of 25 Federation Units under the scope of the survey. Among the states with a share above 1.0%, increases were recorded in: Rio Grande do Sul (+197.99 thousand heads), Minas Gerais (+79.47 thousand heads), Mato Grosso do Sul (+36.64 thousand heads), Paraná (+27.89 thousand heads), São Paulo (+6.27 thousand heads) and Mato Grosso (+2.63 thousand heads). In contrast, the most significant drops occurred in: Santa Catarina (-11.59 thousand heads) and Goiás (-9.40 thousand heads).

Santa Catarina remained leading the slaughter of hogs and pigs, with a national share of 29.1%, followed by Paraná (21.1%) and Rio Grande do Sul (17.7%).

Chicken slaughter records the best result in the time series

1.62 billion chicken heads were slaughtered in the third quarter of 2024, representing an increase of 2.8% in relation to the same period in 2023 and of 0.8% compared with the second quarter of 2024. In this period, the survey registered the best months of July and September in the time series started in 1997, helping to achieve a new quarterly record in terms of volume of chicken head slaughtered.

The slaughter of more 43.96 million chicken heads in the third quarter of 2024, in relation to the same period in the previous year, was determined by increases in the slaughter in 21 out of 25 Federation Units analyzed in the survey. Among those with a share above 1.0%, increases were recorded in: São Paulo (+12.61 million heads), Minas Gerais (+11.17 million heads), Goiás (+7.79 million heads), Mato Grosso (+7.49 million heads), Santa Catarina (+7.23 million heads), Mato Grosso do Sul (+2.04 million heads), Pernambuco (+1.44 million heads) and Bahia (+1.16 million heads). On the other hand, drops occurred in: Rio Grande do Sul (-11.35 million heads) and Paraná (-836.40 thousand heads).

In the ranking of FUs, Paraná remained leading the slaughter of chicken in Brazil, with 33.7% of the national share, followed by Santa Catarina (14.1%) and São Paulo (11.3%).

Milk acquisition rose 7.1% compared with previous period

The acquisition of raw milk was 6.30 billion liters in the third quarter of 2024, equivalent to a reduction of 0.3% in relation to the third quarter of 2023 and an increase of 7.1% compared with the immediately previous quarter.

The South Region reported the highest proportion in the acquisition of raw milk (42.8%), followed by the Southeast (35.8%), Central-West (10.1%), Northeast (8.4%) and the North Region (2.9%). In the comparison between the third quarter of 2024 and the same period in 2023, the decrease of 21.91 million liters of milk obtained at national level resulted from decreases registered in 14 out of 26 FUs investigated.

At the Federation Unit level, the most significant positive changes occurred in: Minas Gerais (+40.63 million liters), Paraná (+14.97 million liters), Pernambuco (+12.02 million liters), Sergipe (+11.92 million liters) and Bahia (+3.65 million liters). Like in the previous quarter, Rio Grande do Sul registered the biggest retraction among the states in the period (-39.13 thousand liters). It was followed by the following drops: Rondônia (-21.32 million liters), Santa Catarina (-19.46 million liters), Goiás (-15.83 million liters) and Mato Grosso (-9.39 million liters).

Minas Gerais remained leading the ranking of milk acquisition with 24.2% of the national acquisition, followed by Paraná (15.6%), Santa Catarina (14.0%) and Rio Grande do Sul (13.2%).

Acquisition of leather grows 17.4% in relation to Q3 2023

The tanning houses investigated in the Quarterly Survey of Leather reported to have received 10.55 million whole cattle raw hides in the third quarter of 2024. This total represented an increase of 17.4% in relation to the same quarter last year and a rise of 2.7% compared with the immediately previous quarter.

The comparison between the third quarters of 2023 and 2024 pointed out a positive change of 1.57 million pieces in the total purchased by the establishments. Fourteen out of 17 Federation Units with tanning houses selected by the survey increased. The most significant positive changes in states with more than 5.0% of share in the national acquisition occurred in Goiás (+719.87 thousand pieces), Mato Grosso do Sul (+194.17 thousand pieces), Mato Grosso (+127.37 thousand pieces), Paraná (+92.71 thousand pieces), Pará (+71.55 thousand pieces), Rondônia (+52.37 thousand pieces) and São Paulo (+30.73 thousand pieces). Like in cattle slaughter, the major drop occurred in Rio Grande do Sul.

Goiás remained leading among the FUs that receive rawhide pieces to be processed with 17.4% of the national share, followed by Mato Grosso (16.3%) and Mato Grosso do Sul (12.4%).

Production of hen eggs hits record in time series

The production of hen eggs reached 1.2 billion dozen in the third quarter of 2024, corresponding to an increase of 3.0% in relation to that recorded in the previous quarter and of 10.3% over the amount registered in the same quarter in 2023. Having surpassed the mark of the previous quarter, the survey hit a new record in the time series.

The production of more 111.94 million dozen eggs at the national level, if comparing the third quarters of 2024 and 2023, was a consequence of the increase in the production of 22 out of 26 FUs with eligible chicken farms. The most significant increases occurred in Minas Gerais (+21.38 million dozen), São Paulo (+20.85 million dozen), Pernambuco (+18.99 million dozen) and Espírito Santo (+11.65 million dozen).

It was revealed that more than half of the chicken farms, 1,105 or 54.2%, produced eggs for consumption, accounting for 82.3% of the eggs produced, whereas 935 chicken farms (45.8%) produced eggs for incubation, accounting for 17.7% of the eggs produced.

Accounting for 26.1% of the national production, the state of São Paulo remained the biggest producer of eggs among the Federation Units, followed by Minas Gerais (9.9%), Paraná (9.8%) and Espírito Santo (8.0%).