U.S. chicken margins slipped by one penny to 10 cents per pound this week and were also down 4 cents compared to 2015, according to Farha Aslam, a Stephens Inc. analyst. The number of chickens slaughtered during the week were nearly 15 percent higher than in the same period a year ago, while pounds produced were up nearly 19 percent when compared to the same period one year ago. Broiler exports were down 5.8 percent year-over-year in April and down fractionally from March levels, Aslam noted.
Aslam also pointed out that Russia is extending the embargo on imported foods until the end of 2017. The current embargo, which includes the United States, Canada, Australia, Norway, and EU countries, is in place through August 5. This list of embargoed agricultural products, including beef; chicken; pork; dairy products; live, chilled, and frozen fish and shellfish; nuts; fruits; and vegetables will not be expanded in the extended Russian embargo. While domestic production has ramped up “significantly,” Russia remains “largely irrelevant in global protein trade in the foreseeable future,” Aslam said.
U.S. beef processing margin rose to $186.84 per head from $168.24 per head the previous week and $23.96 in the same week one year ago. Live cattle prices were were off 21 percent, Aslam reported, and U.S. beef exporters were down 4.4 percent in April as a result of declines in Hong Kong/China (down 38.6 percent); Japan (down 9.5 percent) and the Middle East (down 7.4 percent).
Aslam also reported that the U.S. pork processing margin averaged $18.34 per head for the week compared with $13.44 in the previous week and $15.54 one year ago. Hog slaughter was off 10.4 percent when compared with last year. Domestic pork prices in China hit record levels last week despite China’s announcement to release million of pounds of frozen pork reserves. U.S. pork exports to China climbed 66.4 percent and 7.2 percent higher in April.
