Beef slaughter up 8% in May

Despite one fewer working day due to Labor Day, slaughter dropped 6% last week. According to data from INAC, 44,915 head were processed in the final week of May, nearly 3,000 fewer than the previous week. Steers accounted for 21,576 head (-1,556), cows 16,396 (-727), and heifers 5,898 (-622).

May ended with a total of 223,063 head processed, up 8% from the same month last year. Cumulative slaughter for January–May reached 1.032 million head, an increase of 5.3% year-over-year.

The week’s top processing plants were Tacuarembó–Marfrig (6,073 head), followed by San Jacinto–Urgal (3,961), Pul–Minerva (3,716), and Carrasco–Minerva (3,534).