US imported beef market sees limited trading over Thanksgiving holiday

The US market for imported beef held steady this week, with limited trading being carried out as many end users were focused on business over the Thanksgiving holiday period rather than making front purchases.

Imported prices for Australian 90CL averaged 134.5US¢ per pound CIF on Wednesday (Nov 25), down 0.5US¢ per pound on last week.

Mirroring this, FAS prices in A$ terms fell slightly, by 0.5A¢/kg over the past week to 292.8¢/kg FAS - 22.9-percent lower than a year earlier.

In the lead up to Thanksgiving, the attention was on turkey and ham sales, with grinding beef generating limited demand. However, seasonally, beef sales tend to improve during December. Similarly, imported beef supplies traditionally increase in December, but Australian imports this year are likely to be substantially down on historical levels given the 42-percent decline of shipments to 16,187 tonnes swt in October.

Tighter freezer stocks of imported beef going into January combined with the seasonal tightening in US domestic cow meat supplies point to bullish conditions in January with the likelihood of foodservice operators and retailers competing for the limited product.