O comércio externo de carne bovina do Rio Grande do Sul: uma análise para o período 2008-2016

Abstract

Brazil is the largest producer and the second largest exporter of beef in the world. Among the main producing states of this commodity is Rio Grande do Sul, which currently ranks 8th in the national cattle slaughtering ranking. In this sense, the present study is directed to the analysis of the international trade of beef in the period 2008-2016, with emphasis on the riograndense participation. Its objective is to measure the behavior of the state in relation to the international beef market, along the said period, verifying the existence of comparative advantage and the regional orientation of exports. Therefore, the indexes of revealed comparative advantage (IRCA) were used, which served as the basis for the calculation of the index of symmetric revealed comparative advantage (ISRCA), and index of regional orientation (IRO). In 2008, the upward trajectory of Brazilian beef exports was interrupted by occasion of the global economic crisis that began in the US housing market. Despite this, Brazil did not leave the level of millions of tonnes exported. The exports of beef from Rio Grande do Sul varied visibly in the analyzed period, highlighting the loss of international market space for the states of São Paulo and those of the Midwest. The results showed the comparative disadvantage of Rio Grande do Sul in the export of beef in relation to the main exporting states and to Brazil, with the exception of a few years (2010, 2011 e 2012) in which there was an advantage in relation to Minas Gerais. On the other hand, when compared to the main exporting countries of the commodity to the main importing countries, Rio Grande do Sul presented significant advantages. The United Kingdom and Hong Kong were the destinations for which the highest trend in beef exports in the period was observed.