The embargo, viewed as Russian retaliation for Western sanctions, has seen Brazilian beef exports to the country rise by more than 10%, to more than 1 million tonnes during the first eight months of 2014, reported Abiec.
Antonio Jorge Camardelli, president of Abiec, said: “With this result, Brazil consolidates its position as the largest supplier of beef in the world.”
Joc.com reported that, in value terms, the first eight months of 2014 brought in revenue of US$4.75bn from beef exports to Russia, which was nearly a 14% increase over the same period in 2013.
With Russian hygiene inspectors granting a further 58 Brazilian processing plants with licenses to export to Russia, Abiec expects further dramatic export increases. Brazilian beef exports leapt from an average 24,000 metric tons per month between January and June, to 41,000 tons in July. Fernando Sampaio, executive director for Abiec, added: “And all that happened before the approval (by the Russian sanitary inspectors) for the new plants so now, with those in place, we are expecting some further increases in the export figures.”
As well as 58 beef plants recently being cleared for business with Russia, 32 pork and poultry sites have also been approved.
Sampaio said: “Russia has strict sanitary controls and its inspectors and vets have spent two years here looking at our plants. During the first half of this year, about 25 plants were exporting to Russia, but now that number will increase significantly. The restrictions from Russia on imports from the Ukraine, Australia and the EU have obviously had an impact on new demand for Brazilian beef.”
A Chinese embargo on some Brazilian beef plants has also been lifted after an outbreak of BSE in Parana in 2012. Joc.com said the appearance of Russian President Vladimir Putin and senior Chinese leaders including President Xi Jinping, at the BRIC summit in Fortaleza in July, paved the way for the various embargoes to be lifted by the two BRIC super-powers.