Recurrent labour strife in the port of Montevideo is not only frustrating but is also seriously limiting activities, and only this week did the Union of Uruguayan exporters make public a release regretting the fact that several vessels abandoned the port given what is known as pearled stoppages.
Uruguayan meat sales to Japan have been growing at an increasingly faster pace, according to press reports. In 2019, trade was worth US $ 20 million; in 2020, US $ 24 million and so far in 2021, revenues in dollars have grown 72% compared to the same period of the previous year, according to Montevideo Portal.
Uruguay's President Tabaré Vázquez met Sunday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Montevideo. During the encounter, both leaders signed an agreement which opened Japan's market to beef exports from the South American country after 20 years.
China in just a year has become Uruguay’s main client for beef absorbing 25% of exports equivalent to 190 million dollars in the last agriculture year (July 2012/June 2013). Uruguay exports totalled 390.000 tons according to the latest release from the country’s Meats Institute, INAC.