December 19, 2013

In December, price rises of chicken hearts and wings in Brazil have been stepping up, boosted by the high demand as consumption of these chicken cuts increases while broiler quotes were also moving up due to the higher demand at the beginning of the month.

Players surveyed by the Comprehensive Economic Partnership for East Asia (CEPEA) say that the competition with other bird species would be limiting price rises.

In the swine sector, hog and pork prices started December in an upward trend, interrupting decreases observed since mid-October. These price rises are a result of the typical demand increase at the end of the year. In regard of some cuts that are most consumed in this period, such as pork loin and leg, prices registered rises in previous weeks.

As for the fed cattle market, prices have been increasing. As a result, quotes are near to the nominal record of CEPEA's historical series, started in 1997. On December 16, the ESALQ/BM&FBovespa Index (São Paulo State) closed at BRL113.02 (US$48.53) per kilogramme, the highest nominal level of 2013 and very close to the record of the series, of BRL114.48 (US$49.10), observed in November 2010.

In regard of beef carcass prices traded in the wholesale market of the Greater São Paulo, the average on December 16, BRL7.70 (US$3.30) per kilogramme, hitting a nominal record - CEPEA series started in 2001 for this product.

In the half of December (December 1-16), in real terms, the average of the ESALQ/BM&FBovespa Index is BRL111.76 (US$48), the highest in two years- in December 2011, the average price was BRL112.64 (US$48.32). The highest average was observed in November 2010. The same scenario is observed for beef. The average of the partial December is BRL7.35 (US$3.15) per kilogramme, in real terms, while it was BRL7.49 (US$3.21) in December 2011.

The major aspects that push up quotes were attributed to the limited supply, due to the off-season period, the smaller volume of animals in feedlots and the good performance of exports.