The Spanish Association of Beef Beef Producers (Asoprovac) has sent a letter to the Minister of Agriculture in which it expresses its concern about the situation of the prices of animals destined for slaughter together with the recent and excessive volatility in the prices of raw materials and the serious consequences that this is having on Spanish producers.
According to Asoprovac, the prices of animals destined for slaughter are still well below pre-COVID prices, accumulating a decrease of € 0.38 / kg carcass in males destined for slaughter, according to the Lonja Binefar, one of the the main fish markets of reference.
The prices of raw materials are thus beginning to approach the previous crisis of raw materials, that of 2012-2013, which resulted in a significant drop in production estimated at 10-15%
In parallel, another circumstance has been added that is undoubtedly generating enormous concern among the sector because the prices of raw materials for the manufacture of feed (barley, wheat, corn and soy) are rising in a disproportionate and unstoppable way, over all soybeans, whose price has come to be close to the barrier of € 450 / ton, fed both by the weather news in some areas of the world, the insatiable Chinese demand and by the action of hedge funds.
The prices of raw materials are thus beginning to approach the previous crisis of raw materials, that of the years 2012-2013, which resulted in a significant drop in production estimated at 10-15% but which we must also highlight a big difference. This is the price of animals for slaughter, on average 11% lower than in 2012, which undoubtedly explains the reason for this new alert.
