The Meat Sectors and the Brazilian Macro Regions Economies : An Interregional Input-Output Approach

The Brazilian meat production in 1999 is estimated at 12.8 million tons, and the main productive chains of this sector are: a) the beef chain (6.7 million tons); b) the poultry chain (5.0 million tons); and the pork chain (1.7 million tons). Brazil is the world second largest beef producer (13.6% of the world’s total volume), the third largest poultry producer (12.5% of the world’s total volume), and the eighth largest pork producer (2.0% of the world’s total volume). Brazil is also the world third largest beef exporter (9.2% of the word’s total volume), second largest poultry exporter (12.7% of the world’s total volume), and thirteenth largest pork exporter (1.3% of the world’s total volume). Due to the importance of the meat sector for the Brazilian economy it is important to know how the product transference of the animal-raising and slaughter sectors and the meat processing industries take place among the Brazilian regions and how this can impact the national economy. This paper evaluates both the regional and the national economic significance of meat industry, using a five regions interregional input-output table