Brazil's JBS SA should export more than US$10 billion in meat products by the end of 2011, up from US$8.7 billion in 2010, said company president Wesley Batista in an interview with Valor Economico newspaper. JBS' net revenue is forecast at BRL60 billion (US$35 billion) for this year, which would be up 9 percent from the year prior.
JBS CEO, Wesley Batista, at his Sao Paulo office.
The world's largest meat processor, JBS SA exports from its production sites in Brazil, the U.S., Australia, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Shipments originating from the U.S. are high and should continue growing, Batista said. Export sales from Brazil will likely decrease because of increasing domestic demand.
The rising value of Brazil's real currency has discouraged foreign sales of Brazilian beef somewhat, Batista said, but the main influence in lower exports from the company's home country has been domestic consumption. Brazilians are eating more beef than ever before as lower economic classes gain purchasing power.
JBS' president says he isn't losing any sleep over the financial crises in Europe and the U.S. “For our industry, what counts are the emerging markets,” he said, which haven't been affected as much.
During economic crises, durable goods industries and tourism take the hardest hit in markets like the U.S. and E.U., Batista said, but food consumption isn't affected as badly. In emerging markets it's different, where shifts in income can affect a family's food consumption considerably, he said.
JBS SA's growth strategy will be to ensure it has operations in regions of the world that produce meat, Batista said. From the U.S. and Australia today, JBS supplies mostly Asian countries. From Latin America, its plants export to the Middle East, Russia and Eastern Europe.
Source: meatingplace
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