Brazil beef exports to Philippines near record volume

SÃO PAULO, Brazil – Brazilian beef exports to the Philippines could reach a historic high of almost 100,000 metric tons (MT) as shipments through July have expanded by two-thirds on an annual basis, driven by Filipinos’ growing demand for the meat product.

Brazil’s beef exports to the Philippines from January to July rose by 66 percent year-on-year to 47,389.7 MT, strengthening the country’s position as one of Brazil’s key markets in Asia, according to the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association (ABIEC).

Meanwhile, the value of beef exports to the Philippines by Brazil, the country’s top supplier of beef products, expanded by half on an annual basis to $170,003.

Fernando Sampaio, sustainability director of ABIEC, said the group eyes to bring more companies to Southeast Asia because of the huge demand potential for beef products.

“I believe we have a lot of potential in the Philippines. It is one of the very important buyer of canned products from Brazil,” Sampaio told reporters on the sidelines of SIAVS 2024 or the International Animal Protein Trade Show here.

“The future of demand is there because you have a growing population, better income for families and higher demand for proteins,” Sampaio added.

Sampaio said it is just recently that some Brazilian companies are learning how to penetrate and navigate the Asian markets, including the Philippines.

He noted that more Brazilian foreign meat establishments are now able to export meat products to the Philippines after Manila granted a system accreditation to Brasilia’s food safety inspection standards.

The system accreditation allows all exporters duly registered and accredited by Brazil to ship meat products to the Philippines.

“We see more (Brazilian) companies having offices in Asia now,” he said.

ABIEC expects Brazilian beef exports to the Philippines to average around 10,000 MT per month from August until the end of the year, possibly bringing total shipments to about 97,000 MT.

The Philippines has been in the top 10 markets of Brazil for beef products since 2020.

Last year, Brazil’s beef exports to the Philippines fell by eight percent to 56,221.5 MT from 61,400.6 MT.

Despite the contraction in volume, the country remained as Brazil’s ninth largest market for beef as it accounted for 2.45 percent of the 2.29 million MT that the South American country exported last year.

The Philippines is Brazil’s largest market in Southeast Asia and the third largest market in entire Asia for beef products.

This is the first time that ABIEC is formally participating at a SIAVS event, which is considered as the largest livestock and poultry trade show in Brazil.

This year’s SIAVS gathered top animal protein industry players and experts from around the world to discuss the future of the global meat market amid threats like diseases.

SIAVS also serves as a platform for Brazilian meat exporters like ABIEC to showcase the strengths of their industries.