What the USDA projects in 2024 for the beef market

Although more moderate growth in its economy is expected, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) slightly corrected upward expectations for beef imports from China. In October it had projected 3.5 million tons, a volume that it raised to 3.55 million in its update at the beginning of January. In this way, taking into account the proportions that China imports of bone-in and boneless meat, they will need 230 thousand tons of shipping weight per month, beyond the stocks they have at the beginning of the year. In addition, the USDA raised its import projection by the United States to 1.71 million tons of carcass, 54 thousand tons more than what it had forecast in October for 2014 and 28 thousand tons above the volume imported in 2023. Another relevant change for this year was the downward correction in Argentina's production expectations, from 90 thousand tons to 3.03 million, despite the fact that it kept its export projection stable at 900 thousand tons, due to the ...