An ugly disgrace hit the Brazilian beef export sector. According to information giant Bloomberg, on Monday the Ministry of Agriculture of the South American state suspended sales to China following the finding of the BSE disease (mad cow) in a 17-year-old bovine in the State of Mato Grosso. Meat shipments to the East have therefore been temporarily banned to meet the quarantine period, while shipments shipped after May 30 must be brought back to producers. Repercussions on companies in the sector are already evident: according to Reuters news agency, at the end of the day yesterday securities of slaughtering giant Minerva had fallen by 4%, while those of JBS and Marfrig Global Food both fell by 3%. The weight of the Chinese market for the Brazilian slaughtering sector is in fact fundamental: according to the data provided by ABIEC, the national association of beef exporters, during 2018 the Asian country imported 1,5 billion dollars (around 1,33 billion euros) of meat from Brazil for a total of over 322,000 tons, that is to say 20% of the total sold abroad. However, the stop to shipments should represent a precautionary measure destined to last only a short time, since Brazil is considered by the World Organization for Animal Health to be a country without mad cow disease.
Brazil, case of BSE in Mato Grosso: export to China blocked
