Brazilian pork exports, including fresh and processed, recorded the best first half of the year in history, with a total of 613.7 thousand tons shipped between January and June, according to a recent market report from the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA). This figure exceeds the total shipped in the same period last year by 4.1%, with 589.8 thousand tons.

In revenue, pork exports totalled US$ 1.300 billion in the same comparative period (January to June), a number 8% lower compared to 2023, with US$ 1.413 billion.

International pork sales totalled 107.1 thousand tons in June, 1.4% lower than the total exported in the sixth month of 2023, with 108.6 thousand tons. Revenue generated in the period reached US$235.3 million, 11% lower than the total exported in the previous year, with US$264.3 million.

“In this first semester we saw a redesign of pork exports from Brazil. Previously responsible for more than 50% of our exports, shipments to China have declined and been replaced by sales to other relevant markets, such as the Philippines and Japan, which respectively took second and third place as the largest importers in June," said Ricardo Santin, president of ABPA. "In this way, the flow remained positive and the trend is towards closing with an increase in exported volumes this year."

In the survey by state, Santa Catarina continues to be the main pork exporter in Brazil, with 337 thousand tons shipped between January and June, a number 5.1% higher than that recorded in the same period last year, followed by Rio Grande do Sul, with 131 thousand tons (-2.5%), Paraná, with 80.2 thousand tons (-1.6%), Mato Grosso, with 17.5 thousand tons (+40.3%) and Mato Grosso do Sul, with 12.6 thousand tons (-2.8%).

In the survey by country, China was the destination of 127.9 thousand tons in the first half of this year (-40.3% compared to the same period of the previous year), followed by the Philippines, with 84.2 thousand tons (+65 .3%), Hong Kong, with 51.9 thousand tons (-15.1%), Chile, with 50.3 thousand tons (+21.7%), Singapore, with 41.4 thousand tons (+19. 5%) and Japan, with 37.5 thousand tons (+107.3%).

“It is also worth highlighting the continued growth in exports to all countries in North America and South America, with important increases in sales to Chile and Peru," said Luís Rua, markets director at ABPA. "These are indicators of the new Brazilian strategy, which has increasingly invested in expanding the capillarity of pork exports."