Global Meat Prices See Longest Rally Since 2021
Global meat prices hit a fresh record high in September in the longest run of monthly gains since 2021.
Meat was the only main food-commodity group tracked by the FAO to increase in September, also supported by higher sheep-meat prices.
Global meat prices hit a fresh record high in September — in the longest run of monthly gains since 2021 — as shrinking US cattle herds are unable to keep up with strong demand for beef.
An index tracking meat-commodity costs rose 0.7% to cap an eighth straight monthly increase, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization said Friday. The rally has been largely driven by beef — with the US herd reaching the smallest in decades, higher prices in top shipper Brazil, and worries over the deadly New World screwworm pest in Mexico.
That’s helped buoy global food-commodity costs, which reached the highest in more than two years in July, fueling inflation headaches for consumers and policymakers. Last month, the European Central Bank noted that food prices are climbing faster than broader inflation, while the British Retail Consortium said bigger labor and energy costs continue to raise input prices for many farmers.
In the US, “limited domestic supplies and favorable price differential continued to encourage imports especially from Australia, where prices rose,” the FAO said in a report, referring to cattle. “Brazilian bovine prices increased as well, underpinned by robust global demand, offsetting reduced access to the US following the imposition of higher tariffs.”
Meat was the only main food-commodity group tracked by the FAO to increase in September, also supported by higher sheep-meat prices. The overall food index declined slightly, with grain, vegetable oil, dairy and sugar prices all retreating.
