The reaction of the meat chain after the repeal of a regulation that prohibited the export of cattle on the hoof for slaughter

The Government has lifted the ban on exporting live cattle for slaughter and the meat industry has analyzed the measure, which was made official today through Decree No. 133/2025.

According to the official statement from the Government, the decree has the main objective of promoting and ensuring the effective validity, throughout the national territory, of an economic system based on free decisions , adopted in an area of ​​free competition, with respect for private property and the constitutional principles of free circulation of goods, services and work. Along these lines, it also seeks to promote a greater insertion of the Argentine Republic in world trade.

"Decree 133/25, published today, eliminates the ban on exporting live cattle, opening up a host of new markets for our country's livestock sector. The ban was imposed due to a supply problem in 1973 and, as in Argentina there is nothing more permanent than the temporary, it remained in effect for 50 years," explained the Minister of Deregulation and State Transformation, Federico Sturzenegguer on his social network.

According to the official, the export of cattle on the hoof is an active and important market in the world. Most cattle-producing countries allow it (92 countries export cattle on the hoof). "The monster of the world market is Australia with ships that carry 30,000 heads of cattle from which it supplies the Asian market. Australia, France and Canada each export more than 1 billion dollars of cattle on the hoof per year. In our region, Uruguay exports 250,000 heads per year and Brazil 750,000." he pointed out.

In this context, the Government celebrated that Argentina surpassed the barrier of 900 thousand tons equivalent to bone-in beef (Tn EqRc/H) in beef exports and reached a total of 935,261 tons during 2024, marking a milestone since the historical record of 981 thousand tons reached in 1924.

However, beef exports in 2025 began to decline. In January, they reached a volume close to 46.2 thousand tons of product weight, for a value of around 227.7 million dollars. Compared to December 2024, the volumes shipped show a significant drop, 20%; while the value obtained shows a more moderate decline, of 11.1%. This was indicated in its latest report by the ABC Exporters Consortium.

The president of the Argentine Rural Society (SRA), Nicolás Pino , said that the government's measure is positive for the sector. "These initiatives, when they impact the market, are a step towards the normalization of productive activities , allowing greater competitiveness for producers and a more efficient integration of international markets," he said. "We hope that this measure will contribute to the generation of foreign currency and the strengthening of the country's trade balance," added the ruralist.

"Although I think we all celebrate the authorization, it will be difficult to export cattle on the hoof with current prices ," said consignee Juan Pedro Colombo to Clarín Rural . "In Argentina, the price of cattle in dollars is high, almost 3 dollars per live kilo, and when freight and additional costs are added, the number becomes even more expensive," he calculated.

Colombo points out that the shortage of livestock supply is one of the reasons why livestock prices remain firm . "Agriculture has displaced livestock to more marginal areas, which affects productive efficiency. Although weaning percentages have improved in recent years, they have not been sufficient to supply both the domestic market and exports," he explained.

By the way, according to data from the ABC Consortium, 13.92 million cattle were slaughtered in 2024, 4.1% less than the 14.51 million that had been slaughtered between January and December 2023. And meat production was also lower compared to the previous year. Nearly 3.177 million tons of carcass equivalent were produced, 3.3% less.

Despite the current challenges, Colombo sees the opening of exports of cattle on the hoof as a positive long-term tool . "It is a good sign for the sector. If in ten years we manage to increase the livestock stock and diversify the markets, we will have a more robust system. The key is to have a stable political and economic framework that allows these measures to last over time," he said.

On the other hand, the meat packing industry indicated that "regardless of the fact that a significant volume of heads will not be exported, it is an erroneous measure , since it does not take into account the current reality of the Argentine productive sector."

"At this moment, Argentina barely has enough livestock to meet domestic and foreign demand. Due to economic instability and the shortage of inputs in recent decades, there has been a lack of investment in the production chain and that has caused us to have the same number of cattle today as we had half a century ago," said the meatpacking industry source.

For the meat industry, he warned, the impact of this measure would be clearly negative . "The lack of supply of cattle could cause an increase in production costs, which could generate increases in the price of meat for the final consumer . This would not only affect the meat industry, but also the economy in general and the purchasing power of Argentines," he warned.

"I think it's crazy," said Leonardo Rafael, president of the Argentine Chamber of Slaughterers and Suppliers (Camya). "We are at a time when this year we will surely slaughter 500-700 thousand fewer heads because we don't have them and we are going to export cattle for slaughter. I really don't understand it. We are going to export fattened cattle to neighboring countries so we are providing raw material without processing," he criticized.

For the slaughterer, meat production in Argentina has been declining and there are fewer and fewer cattle, more inhabitants and more exports. "At some point we are going to crash ," he concluded.