MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay: Exports grow 27% interannually in April

Live cattle recorded a 740% growth from US$ 4 million to US$ 31 million

According to a study from the government's Uruguay XXI Institute released Thursday in Montevideo, the South American country's exports of soybeans, beef, live cattle, and cellulose drove the total sales abroad to a 27% growth in April from last year's figures during the same month and a 5% increase in the first third of 2024.

The figure is the highest year-on-year increase in the last 12 months and offsets the drop recorded in March 2024, it was also explained. Including duty-free zones, sales yielded US$ 1.097 billion despite decreases in shipments of dairy products and rice.

The main destination of Uruguayan exports was Brazil, consisting chiefly of vehicles, which accounted for 25% of Uruguayan sales, followed by China and the United States, with 13% each, and the European Union (EU) 9%. However, in the case of China, these figures represented a 22% fall from the same month of 2023.

Cellulose sales reached a value of US$ 210 million (19% of total exports this month). “This represented an increase of 21% year-on-year, despite the maintenance activities carried out at the UPM Fray Bentos mill in the second half of April,” the report mentioned. This was followed by beef with US$ 172 million, in this case showing an increase of 26% compared to the same period of the previous year. In terms of volume, beef exports increased 42%, while the price, although it experienced a drop of 12% year-on-year, registered a slight rebound from the previous month.

“In April, soybean exports had the highest incidence in the total exported, despite the difficulties in the harvest derived from the recent rains. External sales of this oilseed increased 64% compared to April 2023 and reached a total of US$ 134 million, being the third most exported product,” Uruguay XXI's study found. But live cattle recorded a 740% growth from US$ 4 million to US$ 31 million.

“Beef exports fell 34%, largely due to a 25% year-on-year drop in prices. Despite this, this product constituted 57% of total placements. In addition, there was a positive evolution in exports of meat by-products and precious stones, which were respectively 16% and 8% of the share of total exports to this destination”, the report also noted.

Uruguay XXI is the country's investment and export promotion agency. Its goal is to boost the export capacity of Uruguayan companies, promote the country as an attractive investment destination.