Today's e-issue of EBLEX the organization of the English beef and sheep industry, reports that exports of Argentine beef have fallen even further. At this point, our once-was powerhouse of beef exporting has become irrelevant to our former best customers, Europe.
In the darkest days of Argentine beef exports, 2001, when the world closed their markets to us because of an outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease, we exported 43,000 tons of fresh and frozen beef (cooked/canned beef is a much cheaper, much lower margin product.)
Today, we export 29,000 tons. In the 1980's we averaged about 250,000 tons per year.
Argentina's traditional customers in Europe have largely given-up on ever seeing it again ...they have moved-on to other providers. If Argentina ever again begins to exports in significant quantities, it will be hard to win those customers back.
Charmingly, Europe thinks that we still produce the kind of grass-fed beef that can compete with premium UK beef. News of our feedlots, apparently has not reached the other side of the pond either.
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