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Full AccessLeading Weekly Publication in Beef and Sheep Export from Mercosur to the World. Prices, Trends, and Key Analysis for the Livestock and Meat Market
Last update 07/06/2026
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Uruguay's National Meat Institute (INAC) has identified irregularities and imposed sanctions on several meatpacking plants due to deviations in dressing—the percentage of carcass weight removed between the third and fourth weighings—although the institute does not consider the issue to be widespread. Leonardo Bove, INAC's vice president, made the comments in an interview with Oriental Agropecuaria.
The cattle market remains stable, although market participants are beginning to see a larger supply of finished cattle that could put downward pressure on prices in the coming weeks.
Current references stand at US$ 5.00/kg for standard steers and US$ 4.80/kg for cows, with premiums of 3% to 5% depending on quality and the type of transaction, an intermediary told World Beef Report (WBR).
Most export steer prices remained unchanged during the week. Finished British-breed and British-cross steers, which are considered to have the best beef quality, were quoted between Ar$ 7,900 and Ar$ 8,000/kg carcass weight, while maximum prices for Zebu-cross steers declined by Ar$ 100 to a range of Ar$ 7,500-7,700/kg.
On Monday, the 2026/27 Hilton Quota was allocated under new criteria that, to some extent, allow a greater concentration of the quota among the largest meatpacking companies by eliminating some of the previous mechanisms that favored broader distribution.
According to official US Customs data, by July 6 Argentina had already shipped 3,575 tons under the third quarterly tranche of the additional quota granted by Donald Trump for 2026, equivalent to 17.9% of the 20,000-ton allocation for the July-September period.
In June, the average carcass weight reached 241.2 kilos, surpassing the previous record set in May by another 0.4%. The increase is even more significant on a year-on-year basis, with average weight rising by 10 kilos, or 4.4%.
Between January and June 2026, 6.02 million cattle were slaughtered, almost 9% fewer than the 6.61 million processed during the first half of 2025. Steers recorded the sharpest decline, with slaughter falling nearly 18%, twice the overall average. They were followed by cows and heifers, both down 9%, while young steers, the largest category, declined 8%.
According to official data, 1.077 million cattle were slaughtered in June, up 7.6% from May and the highest monthly figure so far this year, although still 5.1% below June 2025.
On a business-day basis, average daily slaughter reached approximately 53,900 head, up 2.2% from the previous month.
The pronounced shortage of grassfed finished cattle continues to underpin the slaughter cattle market, with some price references posting modest increases compared to the previous week.
