Cattle futures bounce amid beef provide considerations
3 April 2025
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Chicago Mercantile Trade (CME) reside cattle futures set contract highs on Wednesday as expectations for US President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on imports fuelled considerations that lofty beef costs might climb larger, Reuters reported, citing analysts.
The US is a web importer of beef and expanded imports in recent times to spice up provides as home cattle inventories shrank to their lowest ranges in additional than seven a long time.
Eating places and retailers more and more depend on beef from international locations together with Australia and New Zealand to combine with US provides to make hamburger meat.
Trump highlighted beef imports from Australia in a White Home speech about reciprocal tariffs.
“They ban American beef, but we imported $3 billion of Australian beef from them simply final 12 months alone,” he stated. “They will not take any of our beef. They do not need it as a result of they do not need it to have an effect on their farmers.”
Trump stated he would impose a ten% baseline tariff on all imports to the USA and better duties on dozens of the nation’s largest buying and selling companions.
Earlier than his speech, CME June reside cattle futures closed up 1.975 cents at 207.4 cents per pound. The contract earlier set a excessive at 207.725 cents.
CME Might feeder cattle rose 0.775 cents to 287.925 cents per pound, and deferred futures set contract highs.
Within the pork market, CME June lean hog futures slipped 0.5 cents to finish at 96.525 cents per pound.
“Immediately, in fact, most consideration shall be on politics and commerce,” US-based commodity dealer StoneX stated. “The cattle/beef advanced is in regards to the one ag market the place we import extra product than we export.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had stated he “will not compromise” on three areas prone to be focused by US tariffs, after they had been listed in a US Commerce Consultant report on overseas commerce limitations.
The report included Australia’s ban on US contemporary beef merchandise, in place since bovine spongiform encephalopathy, generally referred to as mad cow illness, was detected in US cattle in 2003.
The US imported 392,892 metric tons of Australian beef in 2024, up 66% from the earlier 12 months and 173% from 2022, based on US authorities knowledge.
