March 29, 2013

Argentinean female cattle slaughter rises 8.1% in Jan-Feb 2013

In January-February 2013, Argentinean cattle slaughter has reached 2.16 million head, an increase of 17% on-year with female cattle slaughter recorded an increase of 8.1%, accounting for 42.5% of total slaughter.

In 2012 females accounted for 39.5% of total cattle slaughter and a continuous rise was registered in the beginning of 2013, compromising the herd rebuild expected in Argentina.

According to the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Meats and Argentina (CICCRA), the retention of female cattle has stopped and in the near future the stock liquidation process could possibly reappear.

As a consequence of the higher cattle slaughter, beef production rose 18% on-year, to 490,000 tonnes cwt. Underpinning the increase is the average carcase weight, up 0.6% for the same period, averaging 226 kilogrammes/head.

A rise in per capita beef consumption during the first two months of the year, up 8% on-year, averaging 60.3 kilogrammes/person, helped to absorb the higher beef production over this period.