July 26, 2011

US beef prices decrease in June

Although US beef prices fell 0.7% in June, they are 8.2% more than June 2010, with steak prices increasing 4% and ground beef prices rising 11%, according to the most current report on food inflation by USDA.

Beef and pork prices are currently considerably more in contrast to last year due to costlier input. The high price inflation of 2007-08 caused the beef and pork sectors to reduce their inventories so the supply of these commodities stayed low relative to demand.

These factors are shown in USDA's forecasts as beef prices are now expected to rise by 7-8% and pork prices by 6.5-7.5% this year.