Cattle suppliers clash over Uruguay plants while Brazil faces rates

(Bloomberg) – Marfrig Global Foods SA and Minerva SA clashes over Uruguay beef plants in the middle of an antitrust review – at a time when US rates make the assets more valuable to Brazilian meat packers. MarFrig, based in Sao Paulo, said on Friday that an agreed sale of three meat packaging to his smaller competitor was automatically terminated after Minerva could not secure antitrust approval in Uruguay within a two-year deadline. In a separate filing, Minerva counteracted that the “agreement remains in full power and effect.” Uruguay’s antitrust authorities blocked the agreement amid concerns that Minerva would gain excessive power in the cattle market. Minerva appealed. The Uruguaya plants have become more important to both businesses as they now face solid US rates on their exports from Brazil. The completion of the 2023 agreement would leave Marfrig with less non-Brazilian beef plants in South America, increasing exposure to President Donald Trump’s trade barriers. For Minerva, who also works in countries such as Paraguay and Argentina, the acquisition will provide more room to navigate the rates. According to the IHS Markit -Dead -data, Marfrig’s national beef, one of the largest American beef suppliers, imported Uruguay meat meat. Minerva also sends Uruguayan beef to the US, showing the data. The Uruguay Antitrust Commission did not immediately respond to ‘NE post commenting on the agreement. MarFrig shares jumped as much as 6.1% in Sao Paulo on Friday. Minerva achieved as much as 2% before wiping out profits. More stories like these are available on Bloomberg.com © 2025 Bloomberg LP