The USDA said that higher cattle slaughter rates in late 2015 meant a higher beef production estimate but lower than expected cattle placements towards the end of 2015 are expected to lower fed cattle marketings and slaughter in 2016.
Weaker prices for processing beef and recent trade activity levels have led to a reduction in 2015 and 2016 beef imports.
Imports for 2015 have been revised down by 10m pounds to 3.372b pounds and for 2016 imports have been revised down by 100m pounds to 2.845b pounds. Imports for 2016 are expected to be back on 2015 volumes by 16%.
Exports for the last quarter of 2015 and early 2016 have been raised due to gains in sales to various markets. Exports for 2015 have been raised by 40m pounds to 2.263b pounds and for 2016 forecast exports have been raised 50m pounds to 2.475b pounds. Exports for 2016 are expected to be ahead 9% of 2015 levels.
Projected prices of steers for 2016 remains the same as last month at US$132-142/cwt with prices expected to start the year within the range of US$128-134/cwt and end between US$133-145/cwt.
