Rio, June 26, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - In the first quarter of 2003, 5,307,047 head of cattle, 5,647,124 swine, and 777,783,235 chickens were slaughtered in Brazil. According to an analysis by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), these figures represent an increase of 16.09%, 12.23%, and 3.28%, respectively, in comparison with the same period last year.

During the quarter, 3.517 billion liters of milk were produced, an increase of 5.88% over last year's first quarter production. With respect to industrially processed milk, the increase amounted to 5.59%.

In terms of leather, 7.608 million hides were purchased in the first quarter, 16.02% more than in the first quarter of 2002. On the other hand, egg production amounted to 439.258 million dozens, a decline of 2.02% in comparison with the first quarter of last year. (DAS)