São Paulo – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will help Sudan organize its economy in order to reestablish growth. In a note released this week, the Fund states it has approved the Staff-Monitored Program (SMP), which will help the Sudanese government in economic reforms until the end of the year. This partnership does not entail loans neither guarantees by the IMF.

“Sudan’s economy has been facing major challenges since the July 2011 secession of South Sudan, with low economic growth, high inflation largely driven by the financing of high fiscal deficits, a deterioration in external and fiscal accounts, and a persisting gap between the official and curb market exchange rates”, says the Fund on a note.

In 2011, the population in the South agreed to the separation of Sudan after years of conflict. The South kept most oil reserves, but the new country does not have access to the sea. An agreement between the two governments made at the time determined that the oil would, then, be sent to Sudan and from there exported through the Red Sea. According to the agreement, the revenue from the oil would be split. The resources, however, are not fully harnessed.

The IMF claims that another problem in Sudan is the high and mostly overdue foreign debt. It is this debt that keeps the country from getting external financing sources and loans from IMF. Though IMF claims to have established “good relations” with Sudan for over a decade, the Arab country cannot receive IMF’s resources because it is also in debt with the Fund.

In the note, the IMF says it will work alongside the local authorities and monitor the progress in the implementing of the economic programme through its quantitative targets and structural benchmarks. “Successful implementation of the SMP will signal to the international community the authorities’ commitment to macroeconomic reforms and in due time will help the authorities in the debt relief process,” says the note.

*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça

São Paulo – The Brazilian Poultry Union (Ubabef, in the Portuguese acronym) and the Brazilian Pork Producers and Exporters Association (Abipecs) have announced this Monday (24th), in São Paulo, that they have ceased to exist, and have formed the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA). The new institution is representing the poultry and pork industries, and was established in a bid to increase industry representativeness, amass more members, and boost imports. According to the ABPA, the relationship with Arab countries, which are the leading buyers of Brazilian poultry, remains the same.

The CEO of the new organization will be the former Brazilian minister of Agriculture and former Ubabef CEO Francisco Turra. In turn, Ricardo Santin, the former Ubabef markets director, will be the ABPA vice president for the poultry sector, and Rui Vargas will be the vice president for the pork sector. Food company Aurora Alimentos’s commercial director Leomar Somensi will be chairman of the board at the ABPA.

On announcing the new association, Turra said that in addition to increasing representativeness for the poultry and swine industries, the ABPA will add synergies to the former associations, “Both sectors will share a common agenda. Whenever possible, one single person will represent us abroad. However, each vice presidency will handle specific issues to each of the industries,” said Turra.

Santin said the ABPA will push for the same claims as those of the associations that preceded it, but it will have more members. “We want to break into new markets, we have concerns with animal sanitation,” he said of one item on the ABPA’s agenda. He said the ABPA board is yet to convene in order to list the needs and projects in each of the areas.

The executive director for corporate affairs at food company BRF, Marcos Jank, was one of the members of the workgroup that created the ABPA. He said the merging of Ubabef and Abipecs had been on the table for two years. “These are industries in which Brazil is relevant on a global scale, and they share a common background. There was no reason for us to be working separately,” he said.

According to information presented during the ABPA announcement, the new organization will represent an industry with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of R$ 80 billion (US$ 34.42 billion) and employs 1.756 million people. The ABPA is born with com 132 members, most in the poultry industry, and the target for this year is 150. The member companies account for a combined 80% of Brazilian production and 92% of exports in poultry, and for 82% of production and 100% of exports in pork. The two industries’ combined exports stood at US$ 10 billion in 2013 and should increase by roughly US$ 2 billion up until 2020.

The Brazilian poultry industry exports to 155 countries, and the ABPA’s target is to reach 170 by 2020. The Brazilian pork industry ships product to 70 countries and the target for 2020 is 80. The new ABPA target markets for poultry include African countries and Islamic countries in Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia and Indonesia. Pork industry targets include Mexico, South Africa and South Korea.

The relationship with Islamic and Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa remains the same, says Turra. “We will remain loyal to them as we have always been, there will be no changes [to the relationship] whatsoever,” he stated.

The Middle East is the premier target market for Brazilian poultry. In January, Brazil shipped 299,700 tonnes of pork abroad. Of these, 111,000 tonnes went to Middle East countries, up 4.2% from January 2013. The leading importing country in the region was Saudi Arabia, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Yemen, Qatar and Oman.

The projects formerly carried out by the Abipecs and Ubabef in partnership with the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brazil) will continue. Cases in point include the Brazilian Chicken, Brazilian Egg and Brazilian Pork programs. The International Poultry Salon (SIAV) will also continue to be held, under the name International Poultry and Pork Farming Salon.

*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum

São Paulo – Four Arab importers are taking part of the 15th Expodireto Cotrijal this Wednesday (12), the agribusiness fair that takes place in Rio Grande do Sul’s city of Não-Me-Toque. On their way to the fair, the group passed through São Paulo’s capital this Monday (11) and visited the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce. They are food and machinery distributors and, according to information supplied to ANBA, they intend to find suppliers on the fair.

One of them is Imran Ikram, general manager of Gusto Distribution, company that deals with importing and distributing food products in Oman, Dubai and Saudi Arabia, and will soon start operations in Libya and Iraq. Gusto works with products such as poultry, meat, French fries, green beans, frozen vegetables among others; but has in poultry 60% to 70% of their business. It is the first time Ikram has come to Brazil, but Gusto already purchases Brazilian poultry. Their goal in Expodireto Cotrijal, however, is to find new supplying plants.

 Also in Brazil to take part in the fair is president and director-general of ONAB Trade, Mustapha Zamoum, from Algeria. The company imports food products and processes them to sell in their country. According to him, Algeria is a market with great opportunities. The company purchased last year 27,000 tonnes of meat and 32,000 tonnes of soy bean from Brazil, worth US$ 10 mn. Their goal is to increase these volumes, said Zamoum.

According to the Algerian’s perception, soy and corn from Brazil are competitive, but the country has infrastructure problems that affect business and goods transport. In Expodireto, he wants to know the producers, buy feed and be in touch with poultry equipment manufacturers for possible partnerships.

From Morocco to Brazil to take part in the fair in Não-Me-Toque is purchasing director of Koutobia Holding, Omar Iraqi. The company is the biggest meat industry in Morocco, with 75% local market share. It deals with poultry, meat and sausages, purchasing the raw material mainly from Europe. The company does not import from Brazil yet, but would like to do so, according to Iraqi. In Expodireto, the Moroccan intends to do business, find good price and products, according to the importer. He wants to arrange long term partnerships.

 Alanwar Trading Company, from Iraq, is an agricultural machinery and parts importer and distributor in the Arab country and is also represented in the Brazilian Fair. It deals with brands such as Massey Ferguson, AGCO, New Holand, John Deere, among others. The import manager from the company, Anwer Habesh Mech says the company imported from Brazil on three opportunities, in the years of 2009, 2011 and roughly two months ago. Mech claims that he wants to do direct business in Expodireto.

While in São Paulo, the importers met with Arab-Brazilian Chamber’s CEO, Michel Alaby, and watched presentations about Brazilian agribusiness, the entity’s work and Expodireto Cotrijal. They acquired information about the fair’s size, the Brazilian production of grains such maize and soy bean, agricultural machinery, among other products. Government relations manager of the entity, Tamer Mansour, and Market Intelligence director, Suelma Rosa dos Santos, placed the Arab-Brazilian Chamber at the executives and entrepreneurs’ disposal, in order to help them on their business with Brazil and put them in touch with potential importers.

 *Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça