Meat is not for everyone | The consumption of empty meat …

Beef consumption continues to fall. In the first five months of the year, the indicator reached 50.5 kg, down 12.1% from the same period last year. The meager levels of meat demand are explained by the loss of purchasing power of wages, the destruction of jobs and the deregulation of trade. The average consumption indicator reached 53.7 kg per year, down 7.9% year-on-year, which puts it at the lowest level of the last two decades. The Chamber of the Meat Industry and Trade (CICCRA) reported Thursday that the average price of beef cuts in stores in Greater Buenos Aires has registered a slight decline of 0.6% per month, interrupting a period of 21 months consecutive increases. Chicken prices, on the other hand, declined 8.0% per month, and major cuts in pork increased 6.9% during the month, the 14th consecutive increase.

Ciccra data reveal that average domestic consumption between January and May remains at historically low levels. Chamber of Commerce estimates show that during the 2001 crisis, an average of 64.1 kilograms of beef was consumed each year. Thus, the level posted during the first five months of the year is 16% lower than that recorded when triggering convertibility. The numbers also show a drop compared to inheritance levels. In the first five months of 2015, the last year of Kirchnerism, the Ciccra report reported an average consumption of 58 kilograms. The figures published by companies are down 7.4% in four years.

The contraction in domestic demand for beef is reflected in an increase in the weight of exports relative to total production. Between January and April, external sales reached 21.5% of the total. These are the highest values ​​since 2005. The increase in export weight is concentrated almost exclusively by the expansion of the Chinese market. De Ciccra, point out that "in April, the concentration of shipments in one destination reached a record of every 4 kilos exported beef, 3 kilos were sent to China."

"Domestic consumption goes into a critical context more than a year ago, and there are many factors: the high interest rate, which discourages buying in installments, is compounded by the decline in purchasing power badociated with the process of high inflation, "warns a report from the Public Policy Observatory of the National University of Avellaneda (Undav). Last week, Indec figures revealed that workers' purchasing capacity fell by 10.7% in March. More conservative, estimates from the Ministry of Labor indicate that average wages fell 8.3% in the third month of the year.

Nevertheless, the Ciccra report states that during the Cambio government, beef prices rose below accumulated wage increases. In other words, the beef buying capacity of the workers would have increased by 8.7%. "Under Macri's administration, the general level of consumer prices has tripled (206.4% between December 2015 and May 2019) and wages in the formal private sector have multiplied by 1.56, implying that The purchase of wages of employees in white decreased by 16.9% compared to the general price level, "says the monthly report of the Chamber of Commerce. "During the same period, the price of chicken has increased by 144.1%, the average price of beef cuts by 134.4% and that of pork by 156.5%," said Ciccra, looking for reduce relevance. on the rise in the price of meat.