MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Russia bars beef imports from four Brazilian and one Argentine plants

In spite of sanitary setbacks Brazil is poised to export 5 billion USD of meat products in 2010

Brazil’s JBS S.A., one of the world’s leading exporters of beef said late Wednesday that Russian authorities told the company that several of its meat plants have been barred from exporting product to Russia.

JBS said in a news release the list includes one U.S. plant, four plants in Brazil and one in Argentina. The company did not specify which plants.

However, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service already has said that two of JBS USA’s beef plants, in Plainwell, Mich., and Grand Island, Neb., were suspended due to detection, respectively, of salmonella and listeria.

JBS said in its news release it will continue to supply Russian customers through other approved plants in Brazil and elsewhere while it works with authorities to resolve the issues.
The financial impact, the company said, “should be minimal”.

In spite of the sanitary problems exposed by Russia, Brazil’s association of meat exporting industries, Abiec expects annual sales to approach the 2008 pre-crisis record.

January-June exports in the first six months of this year have grown 23% in value compared to a year ago, which means that at the end of 2010 they could reach 5 billion US dollars.

Octavio Cançado Abiec CEO quoted by Sao Paulo’s “Valor Economico” said that Brazil is ready to return to 2008 export levels “when sales totalled a record 5.3 billion US dollars”.

Abiec estimate is also supported on the fact that international beef prices have undergone a steady rise since last year. Last June the average price for a ton of fresh beef was 3.986 US dollars, 24% higher than a year ago.

Cançado said that even when Brazil faces restrictions in the US and EU markets, it has managed to open other market options worldwide.