Argentina: Beef exports to collapse in 2025, but dollar revenue to rise

According to the Argentine Meat Exporters Consortium (ABC),   beef exports in May reached a volume of close to 53.8 thousand tons, worth approximately US $293.6 million .

Compared to April 2025, shipment volumes show a slight increase of 1.4%, while the resulting value shows an increase of 9.4%.

In the first five months of the year, the volume of goods shipped fell by more than 20%, but the amount received in dollars increased by 4.9%.

"Compared with May 2024 , export volumes are 3.8% lower, and the resulting value is 30% higher. The cumulative result for the first five months of the year shows that overseas sales of chilled and frozen beef amounted to about 250.4 thousand tons of commercial weight, worth about 1,262.3 million.

“Compared to the first five months of 2024, export volumes fell by 20.6%, while the value received increased by 4.9%,” said ABC consortium president Mario Ravettino.

The average export price of chilled and frozen beef in May was US$5,459 per tonne.

This value is 7.9% higher than the value obtained in April last year and 35.1% higher than the average price for May 2024, which was US $ 4,041 per tonne.

“There has been a sustained downward price trend across the major routes since May 2022; the average price of US$5,459/t obtained in May is more than US$840/t below the peak prices recorded in April 2022,” the report said.

Photo: SAGyP

China solidifies its position as a top destination in 2025

The main export destination both in May and in the first five months of the year is the People's Republic of China.

Last month, 13.6 thousand tons of bone-in beef and bone-in beef from cutting, valued at US$27 million, and about 24.5 thousand tons of boneless beef, valued at US$117.7 million, were shipped to China.

China accounted for 70.9% of the export volume in May 2025 and 67.0% of the total export volume in the first five months of the year.

The average sales price of boneless beef in China in May 2025 was about US$4,802 per ton, showing a clear downward trend from the peak of US$5,900 reached in May 2022.

Exports of beef offal and semi-finished products in May 2025 amounted to 9.2 thousand tons worth 16.6 million US dollars.

The average export price for these products was slightly below US$1,820 per tonne, with peaks close to US$3,500 for beef tongues. In the first five months of 2025, sales of beef offal and finished products rose to 48.3 thousand tonnes, valued at US$83.5 million.

“Cumulative data for the last twelve months of activity, from June 2024 to May 2025, show that total chilled and frozen beef exports amounted to 705,000 tonnes of marketable weight, with a monetary value of nearly US$3.088 billion,” Ravettino concluded.