Argentina: Livestock and Products Semi-annual
Argentine beef exports in 2016 are forecast at 265,000 tons carcass weight equivalent (cwe), the highest since 2011. This is as a result of policy changes implemented by the recently elected government to improve the country’s export competitiveness. Cattle slaughter and beef production are projected to drop somewhat, as Argentina continues to undergo a cattle retention phase with good returns in the cow calf business. Rebuilding cattle herds and resuming more normal exports is expect to result in lower domestic consumption, which could drop 140,000 tons to 2.4 million tons in 2016. The drop in consumption will be offset by higher consumption of pork and poultry. High domestic beef prices are making the government hurry the sanitary protocol to import cattle from Uruguay, but little trade is expected as prices are quite similar in the two countries.
