Brazil beef exports jumped seven percent this year so far, in part due to rising Russian demand as Moscow turned away from US and European sources in retaliation against sanctions, an industry group said Friday.

Exports also rose sharply to Hong Kong, point of entry for China, which saw an increase of 9.12 percent, to 293,000 tons of beef, through September, said Brazil's Association of Meat Exporters (Abiec).

Meanwhile, exports to Russia rose 5.13 percent, an increase to 253,000 tons, for the year through September, the group said.

And last month, Russia actually surpassed China in the amount of Brazilian beef it took in, growing 13 percent over August, said Abiec.

The United States and European Union nations slapped their most punishing round of sanctions against Russia at the end of July.

Moscow responded a week later with a near total ban on food imports from those countries and has turned to Brazil as an alternative for beef, poultry and pork.

China reopened its huge beef market to Brazil in July, lifting an embargo imposed following the discovery of a case of neurodegenerative disease BSE, often called mad cow disease, in Brazil in December 2012.

Since the start of this year, Brazil has sold 1.16 million tons of beef abroad for $5.3 billion, according to Abiec.