Morocco: Brazilian calves displace Spanish cows

Mercosur, which does not yet benefit from the EU’s trade advantages, as the free-trade agreement is awaiting ratification by its member countries, is already demonstrating its ability to dominate the market outside the EU. Countries such as Brazil have supplanted Spain in Morocco, one of the favorite destinations for Spanish cows. In just three weeks, Morocco imported 16,000 calves from Brazil, according to data from Asaja Huesca. Spain, for its part, exported around 224,000 calves to the kingdom in 2024.

“Beef prices are high in Spain, and it seems that Moroccan and Algerian importers have changed suppliers. It is worth it for them to bear the additional costs and bring in animals from South America. Mercosur’s competition is already harming us even before the ratification of the agreement that will give them free rein on European soil,” Anabel Cases, head of beef at Asaja Huesca, told El Debate.

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“The projection is that Brazil or Uruguay could completely sink our business in Morocco,” Cases fears, emphasizing that unlike these countries, Spain has a “completely different production system. We have many regulations, but compared with Mercosur, it is hell in terms of taxation, labor and health. Mercosur has nothing to do with our legislation, and there is a certain amount of unfair competition in this regard.”

In clear terms, Mercosur producers threaten reliable markets for Spanish livestock, such as Morocco, Algeria and Egypt. “These are regular destinations for our livestock and, because of the price situation, they are increasingly opting for Mercosur,” Cases says, adding that “if these countries are already accessing Arab markets along the Mediterranean coast without trade preferences… beware of the penetration they could achieve in Europe.” Faced with growing concern among Spanish farmers, the official is asking the supervising ministry to “open up new markets as a solution for cattle farms.”