MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Paraguayan pork exports record significant increase

The main destinations were Taiwan, Uruguay and Georgia

According to a report from Paraguay's National Service of Animal Quality and Health (Senacsa) released this week in Asunción, pork exports have been recording growing numbers since 2019 and reached a 173% increase from 2022 to 2023.

In 2022 more than 2,800 tons were exported while shipments exceeded 7,000 tons were recorded in 2023.

Specifically, over 1,180 tons of meat and 1,600 tons of offal were exported in 2022 worth almost US$ 6 billion while in 2023, meat and offal shipments increased in value by more than US$ 19,134 million.

The main destinations were Taiwan, with exports of more than 4,600 tons worth more than US$ 13 billion; Uruguay with more than 1,800 tons worth almost US$ 4 billion and Georgia with almost 1,000 tons worth US$ 1.185 billion. As for offal, the three main destinations were Ivory Coast (40,006 kilos), Georgia (17,000 kilos), and Cape Verde (28,007.5 kilos) for a total value of almost US$ 40,000.

Association of Pig Producers of Paraguay (APPC) President Jorge Ramírez told Asunción's La Nación that with the positive balance of 2023, a future of at least three years of good production climate is foreseen, for which he urged investors to switch to the industry. “We want to invite investors to trust their resources in the sector since we have a positive investment climate,” he said while highlighting the country's stability in production costs and growing domestic consumption.

Ramírez also pointed out that after the disappearance of the 2022 oversupply, spaces emerged “in the domestic market, and with this, small and medium-sized producers were able to have greater advantages.”