Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 7/8/15


Processing margins for beef were down this week versus the previous week, with pork margins up and chicken margins flat, according to the Weekly Commodity Monitor from Stephens Inc.

Beef
Analyst Farha Aslam reported that the U.S. beef processing margin averaged $132.61 per head, down from $134.31 a week ago and $61.06 per head one year ago. Cattle slaughter was up nearly 5.7 percent from last year and production was up 7.4 percent from the corresponding period in 2014. South Korean imports of U.S. beef surpassed Australia’s totals during the week for the first time since 2003, Aslam reported.

Pork
The pork processing margin climbed to an average of $11.41 per head for the week compared with $9.10 last week. That figure, however, was down from the $14.32 per head average in the same week one year ago, Aslam said. Hog slaughter was up 13.7 percent from last and lean-hog futures were down an estimated 70 percent from record highs last July, reflecting a faster-than-expected rebound from the effects from the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) that killed millions of hogs in 2014, Aslam said.

Chicken
Finally, the U.S. chicken margin averaged 12 cents per pound, which was flat versus last week and four-tenths of a penny below year-ago results. Boneless, skinless breast meat prices also were flat at $1.38 per pound, which was about 28 percent lower than one year ago.

Aslam also sees USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) updated plans for the surveillance of avian influenza in wild birds as positive, but noted that the possibility of future outbreaks remain “difficult to call.”

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.