The beef market in Argentina presents a mixed situation: while exports reached a historic record in 2024, domestic consumption remains at its lowest level in the last three decades. This information was revealed in a report by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Meats and By-products of the Argentine Republic (CICCRA).
During January 2025, beef production in Argentina was 263.8 thousand tons of carcass weight (tn r/c/h), showing a decrease of 1.5% compared to the same month of the previous year. This reduction was partly attributed to a lower number of heads slaughtered, which was partially compensated by an increase in the average weight of the animals.
According to the CICCRA report, the apparent beef consumption per capita in January 2025 was 47.0 kilograms per year, representing a reduction of 3.2% compared to January 2024. This meant that Argentines consumed 1.5 kilograms less of meat in one year.
In the same vein, beef exports reached 47,251 tons of product weight (tn pp) in December 2024, establishing a historic annual record of 629,949 tn pp. This exported volume was 11.8% higher than in 2023 and exceeded by 2.2% the maximum reached in 2020, where frozen cuts represented 82.3% of the exports.
Although the average price per ton of product weight was $4,492, with a decrease of 2.9% compared to 2023, the report highlighted that the increase in exported quantities compensated for the drop in the average price. In total, total revenues increased by 8.6% in 2024 compared to the previous year, reaching $2,829.4 million, where exports of frozen cuts represented 67.1% of the revenue.
