Prices for pork products increased in Brazil in September, favoured by the high performance of pork meat exports and warm demand within the domestic market, according to data from Brazil's Center for Advanced Studies in Economics (CEPEA).

According to data from the Foreign Trade Secretariat (Secex), Brazil exported 98.5 thousand tons of pork meat in September, a slight 1.5% down from that in August, but 4.4% higher than the volume shipped in September 2022. The monthly decrease was linked to the lower number of working days last month.

The daily average of shipments in September closed at 4.9 thousand tons, a staggering 13.2% higher than that from August and 9.7% above that in Sept/22. Also, this is the second highest daily average of shipments in the series of Secex (only lower than the 5.2 thousand tons from April/23), which began in 1997.

In the domestic market, low animal supply, mainly within the ideal weight for slaughter, and high demand pushed up the prices for live hogs and pork meat, underpinning the monthly averages.

In the first fortnight of October, hog prices followed opposite directions between the regions surveyed by Cepea, according to local supply and demand. In southeastern Brazil, where sales were higher, prices increased, while in northern Paraná, hog prices faded. In Goiânia, values remained stable.