According to Argentina's "National Newspaper" recently reported that during Argentine President Macri's visit to China, 24 Argentine beef production enterprises participated in the China International Food and Beverage Expo held in Shanghai, seeking to export more beef to China.
According to reports, China is the largest export destination of Argentine frozen beef, with 52,793 tons of Beef exported to China in 2016, earning foreign exchange of 218 million US dollars. In the first quarter of 2017, Argentina exported 17,900 tons of beef to China, accounting for nearly 50% of Argentine beef exports in the same period.
Mario Laventino, a representative of the Argentine Beef Export Association, said that China is the world's main consumer of beef, chicken and pork, consuming 77 million tons per year, so the prospects for the Chinese market are unlimited.
Needs complement each other
According to a report by the Argentine Beef Export Association (ABC), since the beginning of this year, The export of Argentine beef has shown a good trend, with The export of Argentine beef increasing by 23% in January, and the export volume reached 25,000 tons. The report said that this phenomenon is driven by Argentina's exports of frozen beef to China, and China has now surpassed Germany to become the largest export destination for Argentine frozen beef, with Argentina exporting more than 7,300 tons of beef to China in January this year, with exports exceeding $30 million.
Juan Jos, head of the Argentine Beef Promotion Agency, pointed out: "In the past two years, Argentine beef exports to the world have doubled, while to China have increased by 3 times, and the overall trend has continued to rise." This has a lot to do with the good interaction between Arab and Chinese trade.
Jos pointed out that at present, some relevant policy agreements between Argentina and China are under negotiation, such as agreeing to the import of refrigerated bone beef from Argentina into China and the import of beef offal into China.
Xie Wenze, a researcher at the Latin American Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the International Business Daily reporter that in recent years, the Chinese beef market has imported a large amount of South American beef, and the increase is surprising, which is mainly due to the increase in the consumption level of the Chinese people and the significant increase in consumer demand for high-quality beef. "South American beef" in the general sense includes beef from Argentina and Brazil, and beef has become a new growth point in the export trade between the two countries.
As far as the competitive advantage of Argentine beef is concerned, Xie Wenze pointed out that the geographical environment of the Pampas is suitable for cattle grazing, the quality of beef is superior, and the free-range breeding method is low in cost and the price is competitive. According to MIG CLUB's tasting test data, Argentine beef of the same grade tastes better than other countries in South America. At the same time, China and Argentina have had close exchanges in recent years, and Chinese consumers' awareness of Argentine beef is constantly increasing.
Break down barriers
In 2008, former Argentine President Cristina Fernández introduced a protective policy to restrict beef exports in order to ensure the supply of beef to the local market and curb price increases. As a result, butchers switched to crops such as soybeans, causing Argentina's beef exports to fall all the way. When Azerbaijani president Macri came to power, he implemented a lax economy and lifted restrictions on beef exports in January 2016. In October 2016, Argentine Minister of Agriculture Ricardo Buryaira informed that the Afghan government had decided to re-approve the 5% tax rebate to beef exporters.
Although preferential policies have been restored, Xie Wenze pointed out that it is still necessary to see that the export competitiveness of Argentine beef is still limited compared with beef from Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Australia and New Zealand are the main source countries for Chinese beef imports, and China will import beef from the United States in July this year, and although China still has a demand for beef, beef from these importing countries has occupied a certain amount of the Chinese market. In addition, these countries have signed free trade agreements with China, which has a competitive price advantage.
Previously, Brazil's Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food Supply, Maji, and representatives of Argentine agricultural groups have strongly called for the signing of a free trade agreement with China. However, Xie Wenze pointed out that the industrial interest groups of the two countries are opposed to this. In addition, according to the principle of coherence of MERCOSUR, the signing of a free trade agreement needs to be agreed by the member states to reach a conclusion, which is difficult to reconcile.
According to Argentina's Chronicle, a document released by the US Department of Agriculture shows that Argentina ranked outside the top ten of the world's major beef exporters in 2017, with a total export volume of 250,000 tons (the world's total beef exports were 9.641 million tons). For nearly 17 years, Argentina has gradually lost its status as a major beef exporter.
Xie Wenze suggested that China and Argentina could consider signing a partial free trade agreement to harvest early fruits. In addition, consideration can also be given to using RMB as the settlement currency in trade settlement, which can avoid the negative impact of violent fluctuations in currency exchange rates, and achieve the effect of stabilizing prices and enhancing export competitiveness.