Between late April and early May, the quotations for live pigs followed opposite trends between the regions surveyed by Cepea. On the other hand, for pork meat, prices dropped in that period in the wholesale market of the Greater São Paulo.

In the SP-5 region (Bragança Paulista, Campinas, Piracicaba, São Paulo and Sorocaba), between April 25th and May 2nd, the quotations for live pigs rose 2.4%, to BRL 6.73/kg on May 2. The slight valuation in this area is linked to an also slight increase in demand. On the other hand, in the Greater Belo Horizonte (MG), values remained stable in that period (-0.1%), at BRL 6.47/kg on May 2. In this case, pressure came from lower demand from slaughterers.

In Southern Brazil, supply is high, which is pressing down the quotations for live pigs more steeply. Between April 25th and May 2nd, the animals traded in southwestern PR devalued 3.3%, to BRL 6.55/kg on May 2nd. In the Serra Gaúcha, quotations dropped 1.6%, to BRL 6.55/kg on May 2nd. In Braço do Norte (SC), values dropped a slight 0.2%, to BRL 5.93/kg on May 2nd.

In the wholesale market of pork meat, as usual for this period of the month, quotations dropped in late April. As the purchase power of the population usually decreases towards the end of the month, agents in the sector lowered asking prices in order to raise liquidity and avoid building inventories. Between April 25th and May 2nd, the price for pork meat (special carcass) dropped 0.4% in the Greater São Paulo, to BRL 9.68/kg on May 2nd.

Despite the lower number of working days in April, the Brazilian exports of pork meat had a great performance in April. According to data from Secex (Foregin Trade Secretariat), the daily average of shipments closed at 5.2 thousand tons, 24.7% above that from March and 20.4% higher than that from Apr/22. Thus, exports totaled 93 thousand tons in April, a slight 2.4% down from that in March but 14% above that in April last year.

(BRL 1 = USD 0.20)