Santa Catarina broke a record for total meat exports in 2024, achieving the best result in the entire historical series that began in 1997 and surpassing the highest annual performance recorded in 2023. This level was achieved with the shipment of 1.97 million tons of meat in the year (chicken, pork, turkey, ducks and geese, beef, among others) with a 6.6% increase in the amount exported compared to the previous year. Revenues were US$ 4.15 billion, a growth of 3.2% compared to 2023.

The figures are released by the Ministry of Economy and systematized by the Center for Socioeconomics and Agricultural Planning (Epagri/Cepa). In 2024, SC was responsible for 20.4% of the volume of meat exported by Brazil. It is the second largest meat exporter in the country, behind only Paraná.

“Santa Catarina’s production is excellent, which is why everyone wants to buy from our state. This historic performance is the result of the hard work of our producers, the entire production chain, and the serious work of the state government to maintain the health of livestock,” emphasizes Governor Jorginho Mello.

“Of every five kilos of meat exported by Brazil, one is from Santa Catarina. Our meat reached 148 countries last year. This is yet another demonstration of the strength of Santa Catarina’s production and the concern to maintain animal and plant health, through the integrated work of the entire production sector,” reinforces the State Secretary of Agriculture and Livestock, Valdir Colatto.

Pork

Santa Catarina exported 719.4 thousand tons of pork (in natura, processed and offal) in 2024, an increase of 9.3% compared to the previous year’s shipments. Revenues totaled US$ 1.70 billion, an 8% increase compared to 2023. In the accumulated total for last year, pork exports achieved the best results in history, with a record in quantity exported and revenue generated.

Epagri/Cepa analyst Alexandre Giehl explains that most of the main destinations bought more pork from Santa Catarina, with the Philippines standing out, showing increases of 48.2% in quantity and 39% in revenue, Japan (131.7% and 132.2%) and Mexico (51.0% and 45.6%). “In 2024, the Philippines became the main buyer of pork from Santa Catarina, a position that had been held by China since 2018, which is now in second place, followed by Japan. These changes created a more stable scenario for the sector, since there is no longer such a great dependence on a single importing country,” emphasizes Giehl.

Chickens

From January to December 2024, Santa Catarina exported 1.17 million tons of chicken, an increase of 5.7% compared to the amount shipped in the previous year. Revenues reached US$ 2.29 billion, a growth of 0.2% compared to the same period in 2023. With this performance, chicken meat exports broke a record in 2024 in terms of revenue generated.

Most of the main destinations showed positive variation in the comparison between 2024 and 2023. Japan stood out with growth of 25.2% in quantity and 8.4% in value. It is the main destination for Santa Catarina chicken and accounted for 12.4% of exports of this product last year.

Source: Notícias Agrícolas