Brazil is negotiating with countries in Southeast Asia and Europe to open new markets or expand exports to those who already buy Brazilian agricultural products, especially meat. Exporters expect to see some results from these efforts this year.

In November and December alone, about 10 audits were carried out in Brazil by importing countries to increase the number of slaughterhouse licenses. Representatives from the European Union, the United States, Russia, China, East Timor, and Mexico were in the country in the last two months of the year. The Philippines and South Korea each carried out two audits. The evaluations varied in scope.

The most anticipated was that of China, the country’s main buyer of beef and pork, but representatives from Russia and South Korea also visited meat industries—in the case of the Koreans, in areas free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination.

The chart below compares containerized exports of beef and pork from Brazil to China between Jan 2019 and Nov 2023, according to data obtained with DataLiner, which is Datamar’s maritime intelligence service.