The workers’ strike in the meatpacking industry last Thursday and the end of the quota 481 window affected processing activity. According to INAC, 45,658 cattle were slaughtered in the week ending February 22, 11% fewer than the previous week and the lowest total since the first one of the year.
The weekly decline occurred solely in the steer category, another sign of the end of quota 481’s impact on slaughter. Steers totaled 20,189, down 6,381 head (-24%) from the previous week, while cows rose by 2% to 13,336 and heifers increased by 10% to 7,473.
The most active plants were Marfrig-Tacuarembó (4,996), Minerva-Pulsa (4,260), and Las Piedras (4,249). Across its four plants, Marfrig processed 13,093 cattle; Minerva, in three plants, 10,510; and the Urgal family, in two, 7,695. All three had declines from the previous week: 9%, 18%, and 7%, respectively.
From February 1 to 22, 158,060 cattle were slaughtered, 4.8% more than in the same period last year. Thus, the month is likely to end with higher year-on-year activity levels, as was also the case in January.
Sheep
Sheep slaughter nearly doubled and was the second-largest volume since the start of the year. INAC reported that 21,461 sheep were processed in the week ending February 22, a 95% increase from the previous week but 15% below the same week last year. Lambs accounted for 9,775, or 46% of the total.
The most active sheep-processing plants were Las Piedras (8,212), Frigocerro (7,418), and San Jacinto (5,434).
