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Latin America: Indicators in first half of 2022

Official closing data for Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, and Argentina show a general increase in apparent consumption and a fall in exports.

The following is a summary of the key figures for the Latin American swine industry in the first half of the year:

Pork production in the region totaled 4.261 million metric tons, representing a 4.5% increase compared to the first half of the previous year (4.076 million tons). Colombia was the country that saw the most growth with 7.4%, followed by Brazil (6.4%), while pork production in Chile and Argentina decreased by 0.3% and 0.1%.
Pork exports fell by 14.3%, from 851 thousand tons in the first half of 2021 to 729 thousand tons in the same period of 2022. Brazil saw the largest decrease in its shipments abroad (54 thousand tons), which represented a decrease of 9.8%. Chile (-20.1%), Mexico (-15%), and Argentina (-81.8%) also saw their exports reduced by 29, 20, and 19 thousand tons respectively.
With an increase of 16.8%, imports went from 632 thousand tons in the first half of 2021 to 739 thousand tons in the first half of this year. Mexican imports increased by 112 thousand tons or 22.9%. Colombia and Argentina saw imports increase 33.1% and 60%, respectively, while Chile decreased its foreign purchases by 47.2%.
Apparent consumption increased by 10.8% compared to the first half of 2021 (3.865 million tons), reaching 4.281 million tons. With the exception of Chile, whose consumption fell by 3.4%, the countries in the region saw considerable increases of more than 9% in apparent consumption. In fact, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil grew at very similar rates of 12.6%, 12.1%, and 11.4%, respectively.