US beef prices rising as slaughter remains at record highs

Frozen Bone-In Beef

Meat

United States

Published Feb 24, 2023

Tridge summary

Expected declines in American beef production are pushing prices up, while slaughter rates remain at historically high levels. American production As discussed in the recent Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) January Cattle Projections, dynamics in the US cattle herd are an important driver of cattle prices in Australian saleyards. As a competitor of Australian beef, the US market subsequently affects the Australian market. For the past several years, the US has been in a technical destock.

Original content

In January, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released data estimating that the herd had shrunk by 3% to 89.3 million head. At the same time, US slaughter rates are likely to soften later this year, and an end to the drought in the US’s south and south-west regions would be likely to drive an aggressive herd rebuild, limiting supply and increasing demand (and prices) for Australian cattle and beef. Slaughter rates In the first five weeks of 2023, US slaughter stood at 3.16 million (unchanged from last year). Cow and bull slaughter is down slightly, but the female slaughter rate for the year to date is 53%, well above the 2022 rate of 51%. This indicates that the US destock still has some way to go but that supply is likely to remain strong in the short term. The cattle cycle has not yet moved out of a destock. Impact on price Regardless of the actual slaughter rate, the US destock/Australian rebuild dynamic has led to beef and cattle prices in the US rising, ...

Source: Mla