During the third quarter of 2021, an increase of 22 % was observed, reaching $640 million in exports of fresh, refrigerated and frozen beef, however, in volume it only represented a 2 percent increase, reaching 125,448 tons.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graphic"]
Dos Pinos will begin to compete in the Costa Rican beef, pork and sausage market through the La Granja brand.
The companies informed that the plan is to offer the new line of products starting in the second half of 2021, being caterers, bakeries and grocery stores, the marketing channels that will be used to reach consumers.
During the first four months of 2021, companies operating in Costa Rica sold $22 million worth of beef to China, this figure represents 54% of the total exported by the Central American country.
Data from the Foreign Trade Promotion Agency (Procomer) show that from January to April of this year, Costa Rican beef exports to China totaled $22 million, to the U.S. $8 million and to Puerto Rico $5 million.
Despite warnings in Costa Rica that there was a deficit in the budget of Senasa, the institution in charge of applying tests to exported and imported meats, the authorities assure that the execution of these tests will not be interrupted.
A few days ago, the livestock sector had warned that the entity could be forced to suspend the tests applied to meat products, a situation that could affect the health of consumers.
Because the level of rainfall forecast for the winter is expected to favor livestock activity, entrepreneurs in the sector expect local production of meat and milk to grow during 2021.
Experts predict that this year's winter conditions will lead to an increase in green pasture for cattle. This factor will boost milk and meat production.
From January to September 2020, the countries of the region exported $527 million for beef, 16% more than what was registered in the same period of 2019, a rise that is explained by the behavior of Honduran, Panamanian, Costa Rican and Nicaraguan sales.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graph"]
In recent years, Nicaraguan beef exports have been on the rise due to the improved quality of the product, but foreign sales of live cattle have been declining due to the deterioration of trade relations with Venezuela.
Official figures specify that between 2019 and 2020 Nicaraguan beef exports increased by 4%, going from $522 million to $542 million.
Given the announcements made by butchers about the possible increase in the price of beef, the Diaco announces that it has begun operations to prevent speculation.
The Direccion de Atención y Asistencia al Consumidor (Diaco), an agency of the Ministry of Economy, informed that it has begun operations to verify red meat prices nationwide, warning that it will not tolerate any abuse and price speculation.
With the new laboratory for the analysis of toxic residues of bovine, porcine and poultry meat, which will begin to operate as of March 2021, Panama will be able to begin exporting to the US market.
Due to the fact that the country so far lacks a laboratory to certify the quality of the meat, Panama cannot export to the United States, however, authorities announced that next year the situation will change.
In Guatemala, for the months when the quarantine was most severe, sales of live cattle were cut in half due to movement restrictions, lack of transportation, and market closures.
Due to the covid-19 outbreak, authorities agreed to impose severe restrictions on the circulation of people during April, May, June, and July, including total closures of the economy during several weekends.
When the country's authorities begin to lift the restrictions that have been taken to prevent the spread of covid-19, it is predicted that in the meat sector, sales of chicken could contract by 2%.
Through a demand/income sensitivity model developed by the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData, variations in household demand for different goods and services can be projected as the most critical phases of the spread of covid-19 are overcome and the measures restricting mobility in the countries of the region are lifted.
During the first quarter of the year in Costa Rica 99,662 cattle were slaughtered, 4% more than reported in the same period in 2019, which is largely explained by shipments to the market in China.
Although the spread of covid-19 has negatively impacted most economic sectors worldwide, data from the Livestock Corporation (Corfoga) detail that between January and March 2019 and the same period of 2020, the number of cattle slaughtered increased by 3981, from 95681 to 99662.
When the economies of Central America begin to relax the restrictions that have been taken to prevent the spread of covid-19, it is expected that in the area of processed meats, sales of pork ham will be among the most contracted.
Using a demand/income sensitivity model developed by the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData, it is possible to project the variations that household demand for different goods and services will undergo as the most critical phases of the spread of covid-19 are overcome and the measures restricting mobility in the countries of the region are lifted.