Brazil’s biggest meat producers are having a hellish Monday. With the exception of JBS, Brazil’s top industry players Marfrig, Mineira, and BRF have seen their share prices fall by at least 2.1 percent.
The selloff comes after the Financial Times published a report about the continuing ban on Brazilian beef by Chinese authorities, following two atypical cases of mad cow disease. Brazil voluntarily suspended meat shipments to the Asian giant with respect to sanitary agreements. But Beijing has yet to allow meat producers to resume exports six weeks later.
Experts quoted by the FT believe the move is a tactic by Chinese buyers to lower prices, as the sanitary risks in this case are nonexistent. Rabobank reportedly expects shipments to be resumed within the year.