Slaughter of pigs hits record in the second quarter, shows IBGE survey

The slaughter of pigs in Brazil reached 14.07 million heads between April and June this year.

The total, a record in the historical series started in 1997, represents an increase of 7.2% compared to the same period in 2021, and an increase of 3% compared to the first quarter of 2022.

Also in the second quarter of this year, the slaughter of cattle totaled 7.38 million heads under some type of sanitary inspection service. It means an increase of 3.5% compared to the same period in 2021 and 5.7% compared to the first quarter of 2022.

The data, which are part of the Livestock Production Statistics, were released this Tuesday (6th), in Rio de Janeiro, by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

The supervisor of livestock indicators at IBGE, Bernardo Viscardi, said that pork protein is a substitute for beef, which has had its consumption reduced since 2020 due to rising prices.

For him, external factors help to explain why about 81.3% of pork production remained in the domestic market in the researched period.

“In recent years, exports have been on the rise, especially to China. After the control of African swine fever and the replacement of the Chinese herd, exports suffered a considerable reduction. Other destinations have increased imports but have not been able to offset the cooling of Chinese demand,” he explained.

In the slaughter of cattle, according to Viscardi, there was the second consecutive quarter of increase after a period of low, especially in the slaughter of females, which, since the end of 2019, had been spared for reproductive activities.

“The recent devaluation of calves appears to be leading to greater culling of females. It is also relevant to consider that meat from females, mainly from heifers, is being more demanded by the foreign market”, he said.

The data indicated a great increase in the participation of the state of São Paulo compared to the same period of the previous year, with an increase of about 163 thousand heads.

“Apparently, part of the slaughter carried out in Mato Grosso and Goiás, which had problems with embargoes due to the Chinese market and reduced their slaughter scales over the period, was transferred to the slaughterhouses of São Paulo”, observed the analyst.

Chicken

The number of chicken heads slaughtered between April and June stood at 1.50 billion. The volume means declines of 1.4% compared to the same period in 2021 and 2.7% compared to the first quarter of 2022.

Even with the retraction, the month of May presented the best result in the entire historical series, which began in 1997.

“Poultry exports showed a record for the quarter, influenced by the conflict in Ukraine, which is also an important supplier of this protein, and by the occurrence of outbreaks of avian flu in producers in the northern hemisphere,” added the IBGE supervisor.

Milk

Also according to the survey, the purchase of milk between April and June had the worst result since 2016. There were 5.40 billion liters purchased, a drop of 7.6% compared to the same period in 2021.

According to the analyst, the dairy sector found it difficult to pass on the costs of the production chain to the final consumer.

“The price of milk suffered a considerable increase in the period, but, even so, it was not able to offset the costs of supplementary feed for the herds and other expenses such as energy and medicines”, he explained.

In addition, climatic factors contributed to the results. “Rainfall shortages in Central-South states in the first quarter compromised the quality of the silage used to supplement animal feed during the typically dry period of the second quarter.”

Eggs

With 998.82 million dozen, the production of chicken eggs in the second quarter of 2022 was the highest ever recorded for that period since the beginning of the historical series. The survey also indicated that, among the Federation units, the state of São Paulo continued to be the largest producer, with 27.3% of the national production, followed by Minas Gerais (9.2%) and Paraná (9.1 %).

Leather

The Quarterly Leather Survey revealed that the analyzed tanneries received 7.49 million pieces in the second quarter of the year, which represents a 0.9% decrease compared to the same period in 2021 and a 5.1% increase compared to the 1st quarter. quarter of 2022.

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According to the IBGE, the Quarterly Survey of Animal Slaughter provides “information on the total number of heads slaughtered and the total weight of carcasses for the species of cattle (bulls, cows, steers and heifers), swine and chickens, having as unit the establishment that carries out the slaughter under federal, state or municipal sanitary inspection.

The periodicity of the survey is quarterly, and for each quarter of the calendar year, the data are broken down month by month”.

The IBGE also highlighted that, in order to meet user requests for faster access to information on the livestock situation, as of the first quarter of 2018, the First Results of the Quarterly Survey of Animal Slaughter began to be released for Brazil. , on a provisional basis.

They are available approximately one month before the release of the Full Results.