Recently, Argentina’s National Service of Health, Food and Agriculture Quality (SENASA) released Argentina’s first quarter beef export data.The numbers include fresh beef, offals, processed beef and Hilton cuts. During the first quarter of 2009, Argentina exported 122,774 MT of beef.This was 14.8 percent more than the previous quarter and was 4.1 percent more than a year ago. Argentina’s beef exports to Russia during the first quarter rose 105.5 percent over the previous quarter to 30,474 MT. Also, this was 1.5 percent more than a year ago.
Russia was Argentina’s main beef export market with 24.8 percent of the total. Exports of beef to Hong Kong during the first quarter equaled 13,294 MT, which was 3.5 percent less than the previous quarter but was 20.5 percent more than a year ago.
First quarter beef exports to the U.S. equaled 2,551 MT. This was 52.5 percent lower than the previous quarter and was 11.1 percent lower than a year ago. During the first quarter, Argentina’s largest Hilton cut export market was Germany with 53.1 percent of the total.
The country’s main fresh beef market was Russia with 32.6 percent of the total. The U.S. was Argentina’s primary processed meat export market with 31.1 percent of the total. The largest offal export market was Hong Kong with 29.3 percent of the total. Of Argentina’s total beef exports during the first quarter of 2009, fresh beef made up 52.7 percent of the total, offals comprised 31.9 percent, process meats accounted for 6.7 percent, and Hilton cuts represented 8.7 percent.