MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Excellent news for Mercosur beef production from world meat congress

The region is consolidating as the leading exporter of beef

The increase in demand for meat will force world production to more than double by 2050, when the globe’s population is estimated to reach 9 billion, according to Arturo Lavallol a member of the International Meat Organization (OPIC) currently holding its 18th congress in Buenos Aires.

“This is excellent news for Mercosur which has emerged as a leading meat producer, and particularly regarding high quality beef”, said Lavallol.

However he warned that the task in the future is “to find a path that makes meat production sustainable, since by then (2050) world production should have reached 460 million tons annually”.

To support the statement Lavallol said that currently a Chinese citizen consumes 59.5 kilos of meat per year when only thirty years ago the volume was 13.7 kilos, while in developed countries per capita consumption stands at 80 kilos per capita. The numbers are based on data provided by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO.

“The challenge is not easy, that is why there’s no other path but to look after global resources and plan a sustainable production of meat”, said Lavallol.

But growing consumption is not the only challenge since there are other situations to be faced by farming, more precisely climate change, which is continuously evident with floods and droughts.

However for Mercosur countries, prospects couldn’t be better since the region is consolidating as one of the main meat producers at world level, with 40% of the beef market, according to data revealed at the Congress which is also sponsored by the Argentine Beef Promotion Institute, IPCVA.

The world meat congress is held every two years and convenes some of the leading international experts to analyze current market trends and all the food chain for cattle, sheep and pork production.

This year the congress comes under the banner of “Meat for a sustainable world” and is divided into five main panels to be debated Tuesday and Wednesday.

Over a thousand delegates have confirmed their attendance in Buenos Aires. Ahead of the congress the Economic unit of the International Meat Board held a week of talks in Montevideo, Uruguay.

In related news it was revealed that Uruguayan beef sales to Russia jumped 29.1% during the last twelve months and has not continued to soar because of increasing prices and lack of sufficient cattle. The situation is similar in Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina.

According to data from the Uruguayan Meat Institute INAC, the Russian Federation has purchased 85.547 tons of beef so far this year which compares favourably with the 66.236 of the same period a year ago. Russia now takes 31% of all Uruguayan beef exports. Production in the federation is down and demand keeps growing.

As a consequence of the bull market Uruguayan beef at mid September was selling at an average of 2.911 US dollars the ton, almost 500 US dollars more than a year ago, 2.474 US dollars.