[2020-05-21] Marfrig doubles Q1 profit as Chinese meat market rebounds

Source: Macauhub

Brazilian producer of meat Marfrig Global Foods announced on Monday a profit of 1.2 billion reals (about US$209.8 million) in the first quarter of this year, over double the amount it made a year earlier, Reuters reports.

The news agency says Marfrig announced that first-quarter sales rose by 26.6 percent to 13.5 billion reals.

The report quotes Marfrig Chief Executive Miguel Gularte as attributing the rise in profit in large part to a rebound in Chinese demand for animal protein since the middle of March.

Marfrig runs 13 slaughterhouses in South America that are permitted to export meat to China, which has become the biggest buyer of Brazilian meat since African swine fever broke out there last year, the report says.

Mr Gularte expects exports to China to remain strong now the Covid-19 pandemic is under control there, Reuters quotes him as saying.