North to south, Brazil stretches for 4,400 kilometres, from Roraima to Rio Grande do Sul. At its widest point, it runs for another 4,300 kilometres east to west, from Espirito Santo to Acre. Brazil has more arable land than any other country on earth and is in the global top five producers of more than 30 different agricultural commodities, according to the US Department of Agriculture. It is also one of only a small number of countries with the potential quickly to increase its production and export of food to a hungry world. Food includes meat, of course, and meat includes beef, of which Brazil exported almost 2.9 million tonnes in 2022, out of a production of 7.9 million tonnes (see figure 1). Its territory includes millions of hectares of open pasture land and, in its bid to feed the world, Brazil is going to continue to raise cattle and produce beef. Where there are cattle there are abattoirs, where there are abattoirs there are cattle hides, and where there are cattle hides there often are, logically, tanneries. This is as it should be because although hides are a by-product of the livestock, meat and dairy sectors with only a small economic value in themselves (so small that millions of hides go to waste each year), they have great potential for adding value.
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