Europe seeks to consolidate

According to feedback from various brokers and exporters from Argentina and Uruguay, the rump & loin market under the Hilton quota showed “firmer” conditions last week. “It feels like prices have hit a floor and are now trying to consolidate,” said one agent. Argentine sources reported more frequent trades in the range of US$/t 16,800–17,000 FOB last week. For Hilton round cuts, sales were reported at US$/t 7,200 FOB.

Uruguay, meanwhile, closed deals at US$/t 15,500 FOB for rump & loin by mid-last week, and this week transactions were more firmly established at US$/t 15,700–15,800, according to one exporter.

In addition to euro strength —helping validate higher prices— one processor noted “firmer demand” for chilled beef than in previous weeks.

Frozen product is “more complicated” and speculative now, with uncertainty around which cuts various players will allocate to the GATT quota that opens on July 1. “That market is a bit more tangled right now,” admitted a Uruguayan exporter.