<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Restrictive\nmobility and social isolation measures used to combat the COVID-19 pandemic are\nprofoundly impacting markets in Brazil\nand the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brazil<\/strong> – Slaughterhouses find it\ndifficult to transport production satisfactorily, with important economic\nactivities such as restaurants, malls, schools, and other establishments still\nclosed in much of the country. Given this situation, there is little impetus in\nthe acquisition of slaughter animals, which are kept on the farm, putting\npressure on livestock prices. It is worth mentioning that Brazilian exports\ncontinue to perform well, but about 80% of production is in the domestic market,\nand in the face of a sharp decline in local demand, there is no way to avoid\nsupply surpluses. An adjustment in production is necessary for prices to find a\nsupport point. Another important point is that exports will not increase\ndrastically beyond the levels currently observed, since the number of plants accredited\nto export to China is still limited (concentrated in the South of the country,\nand especially in Santa Catarina), besides the fact that in several locations of\nthe country there is still the use of ractopamine, a substance not allowed in\nChina, in the creation of swine. The accreditation of new plants is subject to a\nchange in this practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Owing to\nthe surplus of animals in chicken farms and low prices, the trend is that housing\nwill be cut in the coming few months, especially in states that do not export\nto China.\nIn the southern states, the adjustment of production may occur through cuts in the\naverage weight of animals and with a focus on shipments, which may balance\nregional availability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nBrazilian market is beginning to pay attention to news involving a possible\nrelaxation of restrictive measures in the country, which may open a process of\nnormalization of meat sales and halt the lows in both wholesale and livestock, but\nreports show some divergences, mainly regarding dates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n United\n States<\/strong> – the situation is more complicated in the United\n States than in Brazil. The contamination of large\nnumbers of employees by COVID-19 has led to the closure of U.S. meat slaughtering\nand processing plants in recent weeks. Companies such as Tyson Foods, JBS USA, besides\nSmithfield Foods, closed some of their plants. Faced with the possibility of a\nshortage in retail and aiming to bring some stimulus to producers, who are\nfaced with a large surplus of animals on the farms, which results in a sharp\ndecline in live and carcass prices, President Donald Trump has adopted protective\nmeasures for slaughterhouses and meat processing industries in the country so\nthat they remain in operation, despite the impact of COVID-19. Such protective\nmeasures can prevent lawsuits if employees become ill from coronavirus,\nbringing confidence that industries will reopen. Moreover, the guidelines on\nhealth will increase, aiming to minimize the risks of COVID-19 inside of companies.\nA study by the country\u2019s authorities pointed out that without this government\u2019s\nintervention, the number of plants closed in a few weeks could grow rapidly,\nimpacting the meat supply capacity in the United States by up to 80%.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Restrictive mobility and social isolation measures used to combat the COVID-19 pandemic are profoundly impacting markets in Brazil and the United States. Brazil – Slaughterhouses find it difficult to transport production satisfactorily, with important economic activities such as restaurants, malls, schools, and other establishments still closed in much of the country. Given this situation, there […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[102],"tags":[],"commodity":[],"class_list":["post-14518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agribusiness-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n