Cattle prices strengthen sharply

Slaughter cattle prices strengthened sharply again over the past week. Sources from the trading sector reported references for common male cattle around US$ 3.90 per kilo carcass weight and US$ 3.60 for finished cows with short bookings, in many cases less than a week. Meanwhile, an industry source indicated that for larger-volume loads, they had to stretch up to US$ 4.00 to secure common males with fast delivery.

The firmness in prices also coincides with a week of lower industrial activity due to an audit being carried out by US sanitary authorities. It also coincides with the livestock exhibition in Mariano Roque Alonso.

On the other hand, the availability of grainfed cattle this post-season is significantly lower than in 2024. According to one operator, feedlots providing custom feeding are operating at 30% of capacity. The source attributed this situation to generally good forage conditions and also to a smaller supply of the categories that are typically placed in feedlots.