Brazilian beef exports nearly hit record in first quarter despite halt in shipments to China

Between February 28 and March 31, the CEPEA/B3 index (Sao Paulo State) rose by a staggering 10.45% to close at BRL 295.95 per arroba on March 31. In terms of beef exports, between January and March, Brazil shipped 411.08 thousand tons of the product, the second highest volume of all time, according to Secex data. On the other hand, compared to the first quarter of 2021, exports increased by a staggering 19.75%. In March, the volume of exports was the fifth largest in a month, taking into account the Secex series, and amounted to 124.43 thousand tons, which is 1.6% less than in February and 26% lower than in March/22.

The price of Brazilian beef fell to its lowest level in March. The price last month averaged $4,812.05 per ton, Secex said , down 0.9% from February and 18.43% below the March 2022 price. The average price for the last month was also 17.3% lower than the average for the last 12 months (March/22-Feb/23) and amounted to $5,816.6/t.

With lower sales and lower prices for beef exported in March, revenue also fell to $598.79 million last month, 2.47% lower than in February and 40.09% lower than in March 2022 (Secex). In the first quarter, revenue was $1.9 billion, down 24.01% from the same period in 2022.