Saudi Arabia, Brazil strike trade agreement to resume beef exports

Strengthening its economic connections to Brazil, Saudi Arabia recently inked an agreement after a nearly three-year hiatus to open up trade channels between the two nations once again for beef exports.

Kátia Abreu, Brazil’s minister of agriculture, conveyed an official certificate marking the proceedings at the signing in Riyadh as her nation’s formal representative to Saudi Arabia for the re-established venture. Appropriately, the signing followed the 4th Brazil-Arab Countries Business Forum event in Riyadh.

Abreu stated that this agreement could open up the possibility for Saudi Arabia to import approximately $150 million worth of beef annually based on estimates from 2012—the most recent year that Brazil engaged in shipping beef to the Middle Eastern nation.

“Brazil and the Arab World have always had strong business and economic relations, and this agreement to lift the ban on beef exports will greatly help facilitate stronger trade ties between them,”  Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce’s Secretary General and CEO Michel Alaby said. “[It] will surely open doors for many vendors, exporters and business owners in the country, and we look forward to explore the wide range of opportunities that this will bring.”

Saudi Arabia had imposed the ban on Brazilian beef after a 2010 report of mad cow disease possibly occurring in Brazil. Brazilian meat companies now hope to return to the 2012 volume—close to 36,000 tons—said Fernando Sampaio, CEO of the Brazilian Meat Exporting Industries Association.

Sampaio added that other Gulf nations—Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, for example—may now also be encouraged to open up trade relations with Brazil once more. Additionally, Middle Eastern importers may be able to adjust prices upwards in the market based on existing market conditions.