Beef Trimmings Prices up in the US
AUSTRALIA - There was reportedly less beef on offer from Australian and NZ exporters in the US this week, which helped push the price of imported lean beef (90CL) trimmings slightly higher than last week, although at 186.5US¢/lb CIF (428.8A¢/kg FAS) it is still 14US¢ lower than a year ago, reports MLA.
2 August 2013
1 minute read
Improved demand on the spot market also supported prices, although there appears to be some weakness in forward trades. If the depreciation in the A$ continues, or at least steadies, this should help the imported beef market.
US-produced fat beef trimmings are still in relatively tight supply, and the 50CL market has continued to get dearer, against the usual seasonal trend – now trading around 115US¢/lb, a huge 68.5US¢ higher year-on-year. A short supply of fed steers is seen as a major contributor to the dearth of fat trim, and this may have been exacerbated by more short plate exports from the US to Japan in recent months.
Cow and bull slaughter in the US has steadied in the last few weeks, slightly below this time last year at around 130,000 head per week, and there are expectations for numbers to drop further in coming months as a result of lower feed costs and improving returns for cow/calf operators to sell to feedlots. This points to a positive price outlook for Australian lean beef exports for the remainder of 2013.
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