Argentine beef exports hit highest level in more than five decades

Buenos Aires | Reuters—Argentina’s beef exports during the first nine months of this year rose to their highest level in 57 years, as shipments of one of the South American country’s best-known food staples grew among buyers in the United States and neighboring Chile.

Official data released on Thursday showed that January-to-September beef exports totaled nearly 700,000 metric tons, with most of that volume, or nearly 70 per cent, purchased by Chinese buyers.

The next largest foreign buyers by volume were the European Union and then Israel, according to the data.

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While grains exports, especially processed soybeans, corn and wheat, are the top farm exports from agricultural powerhouse Argentina, choice cuts of beef have long been coveted by carnivores outside its borders.

The country ships beef to 48 countries, with exports to the United States up 46 per cent compared to the same nine-month period last year, while exports to Chile were up 21 per cent and shipments to Israel up 11 per cent, according to a government statement.

Earlier this year, data showed that domestic beef consumption was down as locals are forced to tighten their belts due to a prolonged economic slump marked by triple-digit inflation and growing poverty.

—Reporting by Maximilian Heath