Argentina: The cattle business needs new rains and more export demand to recover profitability

Luckily for the ranchers, last weekend it rained in several productive areas, which may cause a neutralization of the course of free fall in prices that has taken place since April. At the beginning of November, the kilo of steers had reached a dangerous situation, being below the average for 2005/2021, according to calculations by Ignacio Iriarte, director of Informe Ganadero. Likewise, the situation of livestock continues to be complicated. Iriarte says that "domestic demand cannot absorb a kilo more than it consumes and external demand has plummeted, especially in prices." Rump & Loin Hilton fell from $17,000 a ton in April to $9,000 today (-47%). The average number of cuts destined for China lost 35%: the shank and the shoulder fell 38%; the cuts of cows, from 33 to 35%, and the ball and the square, 31%. The Asian giant needs to digest the meat stocks purchased in recent months and must ease the restrictions imposed on the population in the fight against Covid, which ...