China has a growing appetite for Brazilian beef

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Europe

02:40

Brazil is the world's top exporter of beef. The growing demand from China is expected to drive the South American country's beef export level to a new record in 2019.

Eating Brazilian barbecue while listening to samba music is always a good choice for Liu Qiang to treat his friends or celebrate.

Liu Qiang, a customer, said that he came to the restaurant every couple months. His Brazilian friend took him to the place, and he liked the authentic meat and the vibe.

In Shanghai, Brazilian barbecue is just as popular as the Brazilian soccer team and samba culture.

Brazil has sold record volumes of beef for two consecutive years. /CGTN Photo

Claude Cerbolles, general manager of Latina Restaurant, said, "Sometimes during lunch, we can turn over around two times and our sitting capacity is 250 people."

China is the world's fastest-growing market for beef. Its imports have almost tripled since 2014. Rapid economic growth in China over the past decade has expanded its middle class, and their demand for red meat is on the rise.

As the world's top exporter of beef, Brazil has sold record volumes of beef for two consecutive years, driven by strong demand from China. CP Group is the biggest importer of Brazilian beef in China. Its import volume has doubled every year in the past three years.

China is the world's fastest-growing market for beef. /CGTN Photo

Simon Jiang, senior VP of the CP Global Supply Chain of the CP Group, said, "most of the Brazilian beef is processed and consumed through the central kitchens of restaurant chains. It is highly popular in the business-to-business market. We will provide more smaller packaged products and do more marketing campaigns in the future."

According to ABIEC, an association of more than 30 Brazilian meat-packing companies, Brazil exported over 1.6 million tons of beef in 2018, of which the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong accounted for 44 percent. The figure is estimated to set a new record of 1.8 million tons this year.

Chinese mainland and Hong Kong account for 44 percent of Brazil's beef exports in 2018. /Source: ABIEC

Xu Wei, general manager of the Shanghai New Source International Trading Co., Ltd, said, "China's domestic supply of beef can't meet its demand, while most of Brazil's beef products are suitable for Chinese cooking and eating habits and at a moderate price. There is a great potential for the beef trade in the future."

Industry insiders say the escalating trade frictions between China and the U.S. may create more opportunities for Brazilian beef suppliers, and turn the products into an alternative for the U.S. beef in case it becomes too expensive due to rising tariffs.