NEW YORK (Reuters) — Beef processor Minerva SA says Asia will become the destination for up to half the world’s beef in the next three to four years, up from slightly less than 46 percent in 2017, amid rising demand in China.
That will provide opportunity to continue to boost shipments from South American producers to the region, the company said. The growing appetite comes as supplies of protein such as beef soar in South America and other key global producers.
“The China market is a huge, huge market,” said Minerva chief commercial officer Iain Anderson Mars. “In the coming years, I think it will be more.”
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He said changing consumer tastes are behind the rise in de-mand.
Minerva has also been expanding more locally in South America, taking market share from key competitors including Brazil’s JBS SA, the world’s largest meat packer. JBS, which has been em-broiled in a corruption scandal this year, agreed to sell its Argentina operations to Minerva earlier this year.
“Minerva has increased slaughtering to occupy the room that JBS left,” said Alexandre Mendonça De Barros, an economist with consultancy MB Agro and a member of the board of directors at Minerva.
