Brazilian beef ban will not spoil Minerva’s trade
Minerva, one of the top Brazilian meat processors and subject of a blocked takeover of assets owned by rival JBS, said the US ban on beef exports would not see its protein go to waste.
Fresh beef sold by Minerva’s Brazilian meat plants to the US accounted for roughly 1.5% of the company’s first quarter consolidated exports.
But the US has now banned all imports of fresh Brazilian beef after 11% of shipments failed to meet standards set by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). These included public health concerns, sanitary conditions and animal health issues.
This announcement came a week after the EU revealed 180 consignments of Brazilian meat, some contaminated with salmonella or Shiga toxin-producing E.coli, were stopped at border checkpoints.
At this stage it is unclear which companies in Brazil shipped meat unsafe for public consumption to the US and or the EU.
Still, Minerva claims the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) blanket ban on Brazilian beef would not hurt export volume. All beef bound for US consumers is to be redirected to Minerva plants in Uruguay until the ban is suspended.
