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Saudi Cash Is a Bonanza for Once-Distressed Beef Bonds in Brazil

Analyst warns that U.S. restaurants are heading into recession.

Canada says Taiwan has lifted its temporary ban on Canadian beef, removing the trade barrier it imposed after an outbreak of mad cow disease in Alberta last year.

Canada will end restrictions on Mexican travelers while its North American partner opens its market further to Canadian beef.

The latest beef and cattle trade data shows a mixed bag of global market impacts. Total beef exports were down 5.3 percent in April compared to last year. 

China National Chemical Corp. and New Hope Group Co. are among companies considering bids for McDonald’s Corp. operations in the world’s most populous nation, people with knowledge of the matter said.

U.S. beef exports were down 5.3% in April compared to a year earlier.

Despite meager GDP growth and a higher inflation rate, consumers appeared to be more optimistic about their financial situation. 

Concerns about livestock prices took some air out of the Purdue/CME Ag Economy Barometer, pushing the new index down to 97 in May from April’s 106.

Most folks in agriculture prefer American-made products, though most of us wear, own or perhaps drive some imports.  

Company also is looking to expand in Asia and Latin America.

Industry experts attribute Australia’s slide in cattle on feed to record breaking prices witnessed in the country.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed that the first shipment of U.S. beef recently arrived in South Africa following the reopening of the South African market earlier this year.

Foreign demand for U.S. beef was down 13.2% in 2015 and has been down in two of the first three months of 2016.

Australia's current government will never sell its largest cattle empire to foreigners, the treasurer said on Wednesday after blocking a takeover by a Chinese-led consortium.

Group plans to structure new deal to win government approval.

Citing national interest, the Australian government on Friday blocked a Chinese-led consortium from buying the nation's largest private land holding, a collection of Outback cattle ranches bigger than South Korea.

Between realizing crop shortfalls in South America, a weaker dollar and weather uncertainties, prices for the month of April are up 35 cents for corn to near $4 for corn and $1.10 higher in soybeans back above $10. But the benefit for grain farmers is making it more expensive for cattle feeders.

Mexico is watching out for the banned steroid clenbuterol — on the dinner plates of its athletes.

Chinese-Led Group to Buy Australia's Most Iconic Cattle Rancher

Beef production is forecast at 59.0 MMT in 2016, 23 percent of total meat production. 

Less beef was shipped to Mexico, Canada and Philippines than last year.

Mexican beef exports have grown rapidly in recent years.  

French officials found a suspected case of mad-cow disease in the northern Ardennes region, raising concerns that Europe’s biggest producer could lose access to export markets.  

U.S. exporters are benefiting from declining Australian supplies and Japan could be the fastest-growing Asian market for U.S. beef.

Agreement is expected to further increase beef exports to Peru, which topped $25 million in 2015.

Beef is now so expensive in Argentina, which once was the third-largest exporter, that slaughtering plants are about to start importing cattle from neighboring countries for the first time in almost two decades.

The Canadian cattle herd has increased 0.3% in the past year to nearly 12 million head.

One of the Chinese bidders for Australia’s most iconic cattle company is joining forces with a local investment group as it seeks government approval for a foreign takeover.

Cattle prices have dropped more than 32% during the last 16 months, but beef prices haven’t seen the same dramatic decline.

The price for uncooked beef steaks has come down recently, helping earnings at restaurant chains such as Texas Roadhouse Inc.

The U.S. and Mexican cattle and beef industries continue to integrate, building on a long history of trade between the two countries. 

For Bruno Dufayet, the latest round of trade talks between the European Union and the U.S. could sound the death knell for France’s small cattle farms.

Restaurant Brands International Inc., the owner of Burger King and Tim Hortons, reported fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ projections after new menu items helped sales at the burger chain.

With the final 2015 trade data in hand, it is possible to look back and summarize 2015 North American cattle trade. Limited cattle inventories, market conditions and exchange rates all played a part in 2015 cattle trade between the U.S. and Canada and suggest what might be expected in 2016. 

U.S. beef imports were down 35.2% in December at 186.2 million pounds.

JBS SA may have become too cheap to ignore. That’s what at least five of the analysts that cover the company said in the last couple of weeks, saying the shares of the world’s largest meat producer were undervalued after falling to the lowest level since 2014 in late January.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast that farmers will face a drop in profit for the third straight year as persistent surpluses depress crop and livestock prices.

Australian beef exports to China grow six-fold in three years.

Supporters of a prominent businessman and Muslim community leader packed a federal courtroom Friday to ask a judge to spare him prison time for committing fraud in exporting halal beef products to Malaysia and Indonesia.

The trade agreement might be one of the biggest opportunities to turn-around a sliding cattle market.

China halted imports of U.S. beef in 2003 after a case of mad cow disease was found in Washington state. Now, an industry group is predicting that China, the world’s biggest importer of U.S. agricultural goods, will open its market fully by the middle of this year.

Americans eat more meat per person than residents of almost any other country, but what meat they eat has evolved and will continue to adapt. “Our lifestyles and preferences have changed,” says John Nalivka, president of Sterling Marketing. “Most people don’t sit down and eat a 20-oz. steak anymore. Most of us are perfectly happy to have a quality 8-oz. steak."

Shares of JBS SA, the world’s largest meat producer, plunged to a 15-month low after Brazil’s public prosecutor accused executives including Chairman Joesley Batista of financial crimes involving a series of loans made to related companies.

The rapid drop in cattle futures has cattle organizations concerned about the instability of beef trade.

Beef exports gain momentum in most Asian markets, but decline continues in Japan.

The beef export market was down overall this past year after a strong dollar had countries looking to trade elsewhere. The strong dollar brought a flood of cheaper beef into the U.S., too.

Cattle futures have taken another turn over the past two weeks as prices have drifted lower, correcting the big December 17-24 advance.

The latest international trade data for November confirms that the trade picture for beef and cattle is recovering from the dramatic changes in recent months. 

November U.S. beef exports exceeded beef imports for the first month since February 2014.