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China - Some beef prices year-over-year dropped 12.9% partly due to increased supply of imported beef and dairy beef - June 14, 2024

sharon sanders

Editor-in-Chief & President
Some beef prices have dropped below 30 yuan. Farmers say a large number of dairy cows have entered the beef market. Experts say prices may rise in the second half of the year.
Poster News2024-06-14 06:16


On June 12, the National Bureau of Statistics released the national CPI (Consumer Price Index) data for May. Compared with the year-on-year increase of 3.3% in pork prices, the year-on-year decrease of 12.9% in beef prices was recorded.
Red Star News learned from several supermarkets that the current selling price of some beef on the market has dropped below 30 yuan per catty.
On June 13, several farmers said in an interview with Red Star News that since the middle of last year, the price of beef has dropped significantly, with the price of live cattle falling from about 14 yuan per catty to about 12 yuan per catty, or even lower. If it is a 1,400-jin cow, it will sell for about 3,000 yuan less than before. Farmers said that the increase in imported beef and the entry of some eliminated dairy cows into the beef market are the reasons for the drop in beef prices.
Zhu Zengyong, a researcher at the Beijing Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that unlike the second half of last year when beef supply was still increasing, after continuous digestion, the current live cattle available for slaughter have been slightly reduced. The supply of beef is expected to narrow in the second half of the year and prices may rebound.
There are supermarkets selling fresh beef for less than 30 yuan per catty
Data shows beef prices fell 12.9% year-on-year in May
On June 13, Red Star News learned from a Beijing supermarket staff that the cheapest chilled domestic grain-fed yellow cattle tender meat in the supermarket costs 29.9 yuan per catty, while other types of beef brisket and beef tendon are also relatively close in price, at less than 35 yuan per catty. In addition, staff from several supermarkets in Xi'an, Shaanxi and Dalian, Liaoning also said that beef is currently on sale at less than 30 yuan per catty.
"This price is relatively low. When it was expensive before, a pound of ordinary beef cost more than 40 yuan." said a staff member of a supermarket in Beijing.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in May, among the eight categories of goods and services that make up the CPI, except for food and transportation and communications prices, prices of the other six categories all rose year-on-year.
Among them, food prices fell by 2.0%, a decrease of 0.7 percentage points from the previous month, which affected the year-on-year decline of CPI by about 0.37 percentage points. Among food, pork, freshwater fish and fresh vegetable prices rose by 4.6%, 3.3% and 2.3% respectively, and the increase rates were expanded; eggs, fresh fruits and edible oil prices fell by 8.5%, 6.7% and 5.1% respectively, and the decline rates were narrowed; beef, mutton and poultry prices fell by 12.9%, 7.5% and 2.9% respectively, and the decline rates continued to expand.
In terms of month-on-month prices, beef prices fell by 3.6%. Red Star News noted that the CPI data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in April this year showed that beef prices fell by 2.7% month-on-month and 12.4% year-on-year, while from January to May this year, beef prices fell by 9.2% year-on-year. Pork prices turned from a year-on-year decline of 2.4% in March to a year-on-year increase of 1.4% in April.
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▲Main data of consumer prices in May 2024 from the National Bureau of Statistics
According to the "Weekly Monitoring Report on Ex-factory Prices of Lean White Pork in the 23rd Week of 2024" released by the Information Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on June 12, in the 23rd week of 2024 (June 3 to June 7, 2024), the weekly average of the total index of ex-factory prices of lean white pork in 16 provinces (municipalities) was 24.68 yuan per kilogram, a month-on-month increase of 7.0% and a year-on-year increase of 34.2%, an increase of 9.3 percentage points from last week.
Data from the Information Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs also showed that on June 12, the monitored beef price was 61.02 yuan per kilogram. One month ago, on May 11, monitoring data from the same platform showed that the beef price was still 65.04 yuan per kilogram.
Cattle Farm Owner:
After raising cattle for more than ten years, I encountered a "painful period"
"Since the second half of last year, we have felt the continuous decline in beef market prices." Mr. Fan, operator of a cattle farm in Langfang, Hebei, told Red Star News that he has been engaged in the cattle breeding industry for more than ten years, and the past one or two years have been the first time in more than ten years that he has encountered a relatively long "pain period."
Mr. Fan's farm currently has more than 2,000 cattle, which are common domestic beef cattle. Its main customers are concentrated in Guangzhou, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. "If the cattle are sold live in the market, the better ones are around 11 to 12 yuan per catty, and the ones with lower quality are 10 yuan or even lower. In the same period last year, the price of live cattle was basically around 14 yuan per catty."
Mr. Fan said that larger adult cattle must grow to about 1,400 kilograms to reach the sales standard, and smaller ones must weigh about 1,000 kilograms. If the price per kilogram differs by two or three yuan, then the difference between a cow and last year may be more than 3,000 yuan. For farms that raise hundreds or even thousands of cattle, such a price difference is very large.
Talking about the recent continuous decline in beef prices, Mr. Fan, who has been raising cattle for many years, analyzed that there are many reasons. On the one hand, the amount of imported beef is increasing, which has led to a decline in domestic beef prices. On the other hand, the recent sluggish dairy market has led to the elimination of many dairy cows that were originally used for milk production and entered the beef market. The price of dairy cows sent to the slaughterhouse is not very high, but the number is relatively large, which has also led to a lower price of beef cattle.
Mr. Ma, the person in charge of a breeding farm in Yangling, Shaanxi, said that the local market is dominated by free-range cattle raised by farmers, and there are not many farms with hundreds or even thousands of cattle. However, relatively speaking, large-scale farms can control breeding costs more centrally when beef prices fall.
"We raise Qinchuan cattle of relatively good quality, and mainly supply mid- to high-end supermarkets and restaurants." Mr. Ma said that the current decline in beef prices has resulted in the farm being able to "maintain its profitability" and reducing costs by growing wheat, corn and other feed crops. "Now we can only wait and see how the market reacts after the eliminated dairy cows are digested. I hope the price will rise again in the future."
However, Mr. Ma is cautious about whether the reduction in the price of cattle will be clearly reflected in the market. He said that from the time cattle are sold to the supermarket or the vegetable market, they need to go through many procedures such as slaughterhouses and wholesalers, and there will be several price differences in the middle. The final price of beef is still determined by the terminal. "If the wholesale price drops a lot, it is possible that the sales terminal will reduce the price to attract more customers."
expert:
After continuous digestion, prices may rebound in the second half of the year
Red Star News noted that in fact, pork prices had "bottomed out" in the middle of last year. According to data published on the website of the National Bureau of Statistics, pork prices fell 26% year-on-year in July last year. In order to stabilize pork prices, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments had worked with relevant departments to implement the work plan for ensuring supply and stabilizing prices in the live pig and pork market, and promptly carried out adjustments to the central pork reserves.
Zhu Zengyong, a researcher at the Beijing Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that compared with pork prices, which are more prone to fluctuations, beef prices are generally firm, and many farmers have begun to increase their stock in recent years. However, since the beginning of this year, the prices of alternative animal proteins such as pork and eggs have been low overall, which has also led to an increase in market consumption and a corresponding decrease in beef consumption demand. In the first half of the year, the consumption of domestic and imported beef has declined to varying degrees.
Zhu Zengyong said that unlike the second half of last year when beef supply was still increasing, after continuous digestion, the current live cattle available for slaughter have slightly decreased, and the beef supply is expected to narrow in the second half of the year, and the price may rebound. "In addition, according to past practices, autumn and winter are the peak seasons for beef consumption, and consumption in the second half of the year is expected to achieve seasonal growth."


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