Uruguay has once again showed it is a significant player in the Chinese market. Businessmen present at Sial China agree in their expectations to see a more active market in months to come.
Despite having moderated its economic growth, China is impressively dynamic at all levels: infrastructure development; modern and majestic buildings; high-quality cars; growth and development of the food industry. These are all relevant factors to appraise market segments that are appealing to the meat exporting sector.
The general opinion of Uruguayan exporters and other businessmen attending the exhibition is there continues to be a very strong demand for Uruguayan meat.
One of the main goals of this participation was to evaluate the market, regarding both product demand and prices, considering the activity of two important competitors in this market such as Australia and Brazil.
Brazil has worked hard to position itself since it managed to obtain authorization for its main exporting plants since the middle of last year, and this has caused extra pressure on the market, leading to a price drop towards the end of last year and especially from the beginning of 2016.
There is agreement in the fact that there appears to be less pressure from Brazil, both in the offer and in prices, probably because of a less favorable exchange rate and the repositioning of Brazilian exporters in the market following their initial push.
Anyway, it is necessary to be cautious, since Brazilian domestic consumption could also fall, which would entail greater volumes for export.
On the other hand, there is less pressure from Australia given its falling slaughter numbers and a rise in livestock prices.
All of these factors create expectations of a more active market in next months, according to the delegation headed by the President of INAC Federico Stanham.
Activities in the framework of Sial China
The presence of Uruguay through INAC at SIAL China exhibition, with a 344 square meter stand -the biggest one since its first and ongoing participation in 2004- has caused strong visual impact on visitors.
The message focusing on nature and on our green country was unanimously welcome by visitors.
The first two days the stand had a significant amount of public, which led to intense work on the part of exhibitors. In the last day, over the weekend, there were fewer visitors but nevertheless, exhibitors' desktops were almost constantly occupied by customers.
Apart from the activities at the Expo premises, INAC offered a reception for customers on Thursday 5th at Grand Hyatt Hotel, in which the menu offered was based on Uruguayan meats served in Chinese and Uruguayan traditional styles.
On May 6th, the China Meat Association offered a dinner with a business networking meeting, where there was a speech by the IMS President Guillaume Roué, who referred to the World Meat Congress in Uruguay in November 2016.
One of the aspects to be highlighted it the significance of e-commerce in China, which has been widely accepted for all kinds of products, even meat.
A growing proportion of Uruguayan meat is sold through this channel to the final consumer, which is part of the factors considered in many of the negotiations carried out among customers and Uruguayan exporters.
In this sense INAC contacted a highly active company in the field of e-commerce, which is developing international trade through the same channel. This all suggests it is the beginning of a new challenge in the way to carry out trade that should be borne in mind by Uruguayan exporters.
The general opinion about this participation has been highly positive.
As usual, support from the diplomatic representation through the Uruguayan Embassy and Consulate in Shanghai is to be noted.
