After seven years, Argentina is back again among the largest beef exporters in the world. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), last year the country exported 216,000 tons of beef. With this volume, Argentina was tenth in the ranking of largest exporters. The ninth position was held by Mexico that shipped 258,000 tons.
In its October report, the USDA has put Argentina and Mexico in a tie closing 2017 with 280,000 tons estimated to be shipped. On the other hand, data from the private sector in Argentina reveals that the sales of November and early December would already sum 300,000 tons, leaving Mexico falling behind. Of the 300,000 tons total exports, 46% are sent to China, 14% to Chile, and 11% to Germany.
In 2005, Argentina was the third largest beef exporter in the world with 770,000 tons sent that year. But exports taxes and temporary bans on exports left the country behind neighboring countries such as Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay.
Argentina expects to continue to have double-digit growth in 2018 with the possible opening of the U.S. market. Slaughtering this year in the South American country has grown 8.7% to 11.57 million heads.