Spanish beef triumphs in the foreign market

Regarding the export data of beef to the European Union, Frigorífcos Bandeira exported 30% during the last year 2018, with Holland being the main country.

Spain exports 21.4% of the beef it produces. The main buyers of Spanish beef are in the European Union with Portugal as first with 198 million euros, followed very far by Italy with 71 million euros and France with 58 million. The first destination outside the EU is Algeria with 35 million euros and it is a market that has reduced its purchases in 2018 by 11%. Farther destinations such as China-Hong Kong remain with 9 million euros and Morocco with 7.7 million euros (+ 30%).

China, second largest importer of beef in the world

China has become the second largest importer of beef in the world. This situation is associated to both supply and demand factors.

From the point of view of supply, the productive sector in China is very fragmented and suffers from inefficiencies that limit its development and capacity to increase production at the pace needed to meet the growing local demand.
From the point of view of demand, beef is the meat that has presented the highest growth rate in 2017, a behavior linked to the increase in per capita income, the increasing rate of urbanization and the greater propensity associated with consuming animal proteins. . Beef is perceived as a meat rich in nutritional value and high quality with a high protein level, low in fat and cholesterol compared with pork. In addition, these traits generate a growing interest in consuming higher quality beef from other countries and with proven food traceability.

The case of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is a country that has opened its borders to our beef a little more than a year ago. It is a country that demands a high volume of beef, taking into account its low productive capacity (some 60,000 tonnes / year) and its high consumption (about 220,000 tonnes / year). Given the climatic limitations and geographical conditions of the territory, there is little chance of a quantitative increase in the volume of domestic production of beef.

Currently, Spain is ranked 14th in the ranking of suppliers in the Saudi market, with an annual sales volume exceeding 250 tons and a value above 680,000 euros (year 2017). This places Spain as an important reference given the short time that this open market has for the export of our beef.

Frigoríficos Bandeira exported 30% to the European Union

During the past year, from Frigoríficos Bandeira, we have exported approximately 30% of the beef we produce. The main recipient of our meat is Holland within the European Union.

The meat industry, formed by more than 3,000 companies, accounts for 21% of the food industry with a turnover of 22,000 million euros and provides direct employment to 84,000 workers with a strong weight in the economic fabric of rural or semi-urban . The total production of meat rises to 6.4 million tons of which 4.06 million correspond to the pig 1.5 million to the birds, 637,000 tons to the bovine, 116,000 to the ovine, 60,000 to the rabbit, 13,000 to the equine and 10,000 the goat.