MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Global meat processor moves into Paraguay: plans an abattoir that handles 1,200 cattle per day

The Brazilian global corporation has a non binding agreement with Paraguayan Cattle Breeders to supply some 350,000 animals

Brazil's global meat processor, Marfrig has purchased land to build a major abattoir in Paraguay. Landlocked Paraguay is a full member of Mercosur, who together with partners Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, has become the world's leading meat export region.

The project is worth around US$ 100 million and last September 2020, Marfrig had announced a non-binding agreement with the Paraguayan Association of Cattle Breeders to build the plant. It was decided after a local businessman desisted from buying Firgonorte, a company in financial difficulties.

By joining a group of cattle breeders that can provide 350,000 heads of cattle per year, Marfrig seeks to make a strong standing in the Paraguayan cattle market, relying on a fluid supply of raw material, explained Marfrig CEO Miguel Gularte, at a Credit Suisse event in 2020.

The investment will mark the company’s entry into the country, where Brazilian rival Minerva is the largest meatpacking industry. Currently, Marfrig produces and processes beef in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Australia and the United States. The company also involved in the lamb market in Chile.

Plans are for the abattoir in Paraguay, with a daily capacity of processing 1,200 cattle per day, to be ready by the end of 2022. The abattoir is to be located in the city of Y by Yaú, Department of Concepción, some 370 kilometres northeast of the capital Asuncion. Information about the purchase of the land was disclosed firsthand in the Paraguayan press.