World / Americas Brazilian meat industry counts the cost of rotten meat scandal BL PREMIUM

Sao Paulo — Brazil lost between $250m and $300m in meat export revenue earlier this year as about 46 countries — including SA, China and the European Union — closed their doors to its products in the face of a scandal surrounding the alleged sale of rotten meat.Brazil is the biggest exporter of beef in the world, the biggest exporter of chicken meat (4.4-million tons in 2016), and the fourth-biggest exporter of pork (732,000 tons).The scandal, which blew up in March, resulted from contraventions of safety and quality regulations, and the alleged bribing of inspectors by meat packers to overlook them.Brazilian meat exports fell 20% when the scandal first broke. Chicken meat exports slumped by 4.7% in the first six months of this year compared with last year and pork exports fell 3% over the same period. Local meat production declined by about 145,000 tons and the revenue of huge meat producers plummeted. Whereas exports could reach $93m on any one day, they fell on one day to $100,00...