Beef imports increase 39% | Weekly Livestock Market Update

Brownfield Ag News

On this episode of Weekly Livestock Market Update, Brownfield's Meghan Grebner talks with ag economist Josh Maples about beef imports increasing by 39% and a preview of next week's reports.

Market highlights:

Live steer prices ended the week $1.67 higher than last week at $203.61/cwt for the 5-market average. February live cattle prices were down $1.90 compared to a week ago, and January feeder cattle future prices were up $1.45 on the week up to $273.80. Choice box beef was at $333.69 at the end of this week, which is up about $1 from last week. Cash hogs were up over 1 dollar at $80.56/cwt. February lean hog futures were down $1.50 to $81.08 on the week. Pork cutout values were down 33 cents from a week ago, to $91.69/cwt this week.

Weekly Slaughter:

At the end of the week, cattle slaughter was 602,000 head, up from 579,000 last week, and 19,000 head higher than last year. Hog slaughter was 2.414 million head, up 45,000 from the previous week and up 132,000 compared to year ago.

Trade Report Update:

The November 2024 livestock and meat trade data showed imports of beef continued to rise. Beef imports for November were up 39 percent and for the year were up 24 percent. Beef exports also increased in November, up 10.5 percent compared to November 2023 but down 1.5 percent for the year. Pork imports fell about 6 percent in November but are about a half percent above 2023 levels on the year. Exports rose 6 percent in November and were up about 5 percent on the year.

Preview of Livestock Slaughter:

In proteins: The average all-fresh beef price was $8.08 per pound during December. The average pork price was $4.88 and average chicken price was $2.43. Comparing 2024 to 2023, the beef prices averaged $8.01, up 41 cents from the 2023 average. Pork prices averaged $4.87 in 2024, up 6 cents from 2023. Chicken prices averaged $2.43, a 3-cent decline from 2023. Beef prices have moderated slightly from their recent high in September.

Beef: Live cattle weights continue to be elevated compared to a year ago. The weekly average live weight for fed cattle was 1,441 pounds last week which is 57 pounds higher than a year ago. This will be a key metric to watch as 2025 progresses with important implications for 2025 beef production and expansion signals. Beef production this week was 527 million pounds which is about 19 million pounds above the same week last year. Live steer prices are roughly $30 per CWT above year ago levels.

Pork: Pork production was at 571.7 million pounds on the week which is 2 million pounds above the same week last year. Hogs are not seeing the same carcass weight increases as live cattle. The average live hog weight was 292 pounds which is equal to this time last year. Average weekly pork production over the last 6 weeks is running about 5 million pounds above the same period a year ago.

Next week's reports:

» Livestock Slaughter

» Cold Storage

» Cattle on Feed

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