Meat Chamber rejects allegations of market distortions

The Paraguayan Meat Chamber stated that the recent evolution of the cattle market confirms the existence of a “robust” price transmission mechanism from the international market to producers and final consumers, implicitly rejecting claims of distortions or competition failures in the meat chain.

In a document titled “Price transmission in beef confirms an integrated and competitive market,” the association notes that “the recent evolution of the beef market in Paraguay shows a strong and sustained transmission of international prices to hanging cattle prices and subsequently to final consumer prices.”

According to the analysis presented, the empirical evidence “confirms the existence of a robust mechanism for price transmission from the international market to the domestic market, characteristic of an open, price-taking economy.”

Transmission would not be merely proportional. During periods of sharper international price increases, hanging cattle prices reportedly recorded even larger gains. The chamber cites as examples the 2020/21 upcycle and the 2024/25 rebound, when “year-on-year variations in hanging cattle prices systematically exceeded those of the implicit export price.”

Source: Valor Agro.