For the third consecutive week, cattle slaughter remained close to 45,000 head. INAC reported that 45,212 cattle were processed in the week ended July 4, up 1% from the previous week and 2% above the same week last year.
The weekly increase was driven mainly by cows, whose slaughter rose 7% to 16,088 head, while steers increased 1% to 22,972 head and heifers declined 15% to 5,504 head.
The most active plants were MBRF-Tacuarembó (5,553 head), Las Piedras (5,519), and Minerva-Canelones (3,776). By company, MBRF processed 11,857 cattle, Minerva 10,710, and the Urgal family group 6,819.
This Wednesday, MBRF's Establecimientos Colonia plant will resume operations after being idle since late February. The company has also decided to place one of the shifts at its Tacuarembó plant on leave starting next week, reducing slaughter activity at that facility to around 2,500 head per week.
June marked the end of the downward trend in cattle slaughter that had begun in January. A total of 193,620 cattle were processed during the month, nearly 2,000 head (1%) more than in June 2025. As a result, first-half slaughter totaled 1.03 million head, down 194,000 head (-15.9%) from a year earlier.
