Indonesia has authorized beef exports from 10 Brazilian meat-packing plants, Brazil's agriculture minister said in a statement late on Wednesday. The plants have the potential to export at least 25,000 tonnes of beef products, Minister Tereza Cristina Dias said in the statement, without elaborating. The authorization came after Dias held talks with Indonesian Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman in May as part of a tour of Asian countries to open new markets for Brazilian farm products.

Five of the authorized plants are operated by Minerva SA , the company said in a securities filing on Thursday. In 2018, Indonesia imported approximately 150,000 tonnes of beef, with Australia accounting for around 40% of that volume, the company said.

Brazil, home of Minerva and other large meat processors like JBS SA, BRF SA and Marfrig Global Foods, is the world's largest exporter of chicken and beef. The country provides some 20% of total global beef exports, according to the USDA.

It is also the fourth-biggest global supplier of pork.

The South American country is expected to continue growing beef exports in the coming years, reaching 23% of the world's total beef exports by 2028, USDA projections show.

Copyright Reuters, 2019