Brazilian beef and JBS, the animal-protein colossus

Brazil concentrates roughly a fifth of world beef exports and holds the largest commercial cattle herd on Earth, close to 194 million head (USDA, 2023). Three groups, JBS, Marfrig and Minerva, together made up about 67% of exports in 2023, an extreme concentration point. The lock: this animal protein moves through a handful of players and ports, leaving it exposed to sanitary embargoes (foot-and-mouth, avian flu, isolated BSE cases) and to deforestation-linked restrictions in the Amazon and Cerrado. A single sanitary alert or regulatory tightening can shut large markets overnight.