China has become the largest importer of Brazilian beef after lifting an embargo on such products eight months ago, Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo reported.
Citing figures from Brazil’s Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, the newspaper said China bought Brazilian beef worth US$517 million between June 2015 and January 2016. This represented 16 percent of the total beef exports from Brazil in that period.
The Chinese embargo on beef from the South American nation took effect in December 2012 after a suspected case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy – more commonly known as mad cow disease – in the Brazilian state of Paraná. The import ban was officially revoked in November 2014 and China began to buy Brazilian beef in June 2015.
Egypt and Hong Kong were respectively the second and third largest destinations of Brazilian beef exports in the eight months ended January 31, 2016, the newspaper said. Brazil sold US$389-million worth of beef to Hong Kong in the past eight months, or 12 percent of its total beef exports.
