Record High Bovine Cattle Slaughter in Argentina in March 2023

In March 1,290 million heads were slaughtered of bovine cattle in Argentina, with an average weight of 226.8 kilos per animal. This represents an increase of 22.7 percent compared to the previous month and 12.5% ​​more compared to March 2022.

According to Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Meats of the Argentine Republic (CICCRA), adjusted by the number of business days in the month (22), there was an increase of 0.4 percent compared to the 18 business days of February. The daily slaughter of March reached 58.6 thousand headsremaining above the 58.4 thousand daily, average, of last February.

After your part, beef production reached 292.6 thousand tons bone-in beef equivalent, 22.5 percent more than in February and 11.4 percent more than in March 2022.

In March, the slaughter of females stood at 46.8% of the total slaughter, moderately above the 45.3% of the same month of the previous year. Thus, in the first quarter, females made up 45.9% of the total slaughter compared to the 45.2% registered in the same period of 2022. In the first three months of 2023, 202.8 thousand more females were sent to slaughter than in the same period of the previous year.

The average weight of the third month of the year of 226.8 kilos was 0.1% lower than the 227.2 kilos of February; and 1 percent lower than the 229.1 kilos of March 2022. The average weight for the first quarter was 227.5 kilos, 0.7% below the 229.1 kilos of the same period of the year former.

According to the industry, the most important segment of exporters, the companies of the ABC Consortium, had a participation of 34.1% of the total slaughter in March, climbing to 440.4 thousand heads.

“The participation of ABC in the total slaughter grows with respect to the 30.7% reached in February 2023 and is also higher than the 32.5% reached in March 2022. Between January and March 2023, the associated companies slaughtered 1.14 million bovines, representing 32.2% of the total slaughter,” he said. Mario Ravettinopresident of the ABC Consortium.

“The adverse climatic conditions that have affected a large part of the cattle breeding and fattening areas have led to a unusually high supply of cows in the period, generating a greater availability of raw material to be processed for export”, they explained from CICCRA.

In the first three months of 2023, 3.54 million bovines were slaughtered, 12.5% ​​more than the 3.14 million that had been fished between January and March 2022. The greatest contributions to the increase in slaughter came from males with two teeth, which exceeded the slaughter accumulated in the first three months of last year by 110.1 thousand heads, and from females with eight teeth and more, whose slaughter exceeded by nearly from 143 thousand heads to that registered between January and March of the year 2022.

The slaughter of the month of March was characterized by a significant increase in absolute terms with respect to that registered the previous month, although with respect to that registered in the same month of 2022 the increases were more moderate.

“In March, compared to February, the availability of all cattle categories increases. In addition, the accumulated from January to March 2023 shows a participation in the higher total slaughter of cows with 8 or more teeth, partially offset by a lower incidence in the offer of females with 4 and 6 teeth, and a participation that was slightly lower for females with two teeth”, explained Ravettino.

The daily slaughter of March reached 58.6 thousand heads, 0.4% above the 58.4 thousand daily processed in last February, and 7.4% more than the 54.6 thousand corresponding to March 2022.

“The production of bovine meat in March reached 292.6 thousand tons of bone-in beef, expanding by 53.8 thousand tons with respect to the previous month, also increasing by 29.9 thousand tons with respect to the month of March of last year. In the first three months of 2023, bovine meat production reached 804.5 thousand tons of bone-in beef equivalent; placing 84.2 thousand tons above the accumulated amount for the period from January to March 2022, which had amounted to 720.3 thousand tons of bone-in beef equivalent,” concluded Ravettino.