Tightening supplies supporting US imported beef market

With limited beef supplies from Australia and New Zealand on the US imported spot market this week, prices for most beef products  were slightly higher, especially for lean cuts and for slightly fattier trimmings – reportedly as a result of good competition from buyers in parts of Asia. 90CL cow meat and 95CL bull meat were exceptions, with small declines at the low end of trading ranges and top price quotes steady with last week.

The imported 90CL cow beef indicator was down 1US¢, to 202US¢/lb CIF (up 3.3A¢, to 601.43A¢/kg CIF).

Much of the commentary in this week’s report from the Steiner Consulting Group is centred on the availability of beef from Australian and New Zealand cattle through winter. The recent seasonal declines in cattle slaughter, with further drops expected, suggest that US users of imported beef will need to continue paying similar prices to current levels until the northern autumn. Further increases in prices are unlikely, with relatively ample supplies of US domestic product likely to be available in the market. In fact, there are suggestions that imported beef will trade at a premium to domestic beef as domestic product gets cheaper towards the end of the northern summer.