In the butcher shops they say that January used to be a month without news in terms of prices / the day
EL DIA anticipated it last week and the butchers had been warning him: “meat is cheap, it will increase”. As a prophecy that did not take long to come true, from Friday until yesterday, the half beef arrived at local butcher shops 24 percent more expensive. “Those who sell at the gate -directly- no longer want to do so because after the rains they have water and they do not need to remove the cows from the fields,” a renowned butcher from the City told EL DIA.
Concerned about the momentum that the meat had, Juan Carlos Marchán described what is happening as “a crazy panorama.” To graph what he said, he indicated that the kilo that started the month at around 580 pesos, went to 620 pesos and is now around 740 pesos.
“It was known that it was going to increase, but 24 percent since last Friday is a lot,” said the trader.
Marchán assured that what happened in the last 3 days was not expected by anyone.
“Prices have changed again. On Monday beef rose 19 percent and we are already at a 24 percent increase compared to Friday. It’s crazy and it doesn’t stop, today – yesterday – it went up 30 more pesos per kilo with the aggravating circumstance that you can’t get meat,” he said, adding that one of the refrigerators that supplies him stopped buying until the situation calms down. panorama.
In his opinion, the rain last weekend made the farmers retain the farm and that heated up the game of supply and demand.
“With all the pain in my soul, one has to see how it is managed to be able to replace it and that it is not made impossible by the prices. What happened in the last 3 days was not expected by anyone, it is crazy ”, concluded the merchant.
In a butcher shop near Plaza Malvinas, it was recognized that the week started with a strong increase for beef, “and this will continue,” it was indicated with a tone of concern.
In that trade, the kilo of peceto was at 1,750 pesos per kilo until last Friday and yesterday it went on to cost 1,850 pesos.
With great uncertainty, the butcher acknowledged that prices are set “a bit by eye” for fear of losing. There it was speculated that the value of the kilo of meat will not take long to be close to 2 thousand pesos.
They also disappeared from the blackboards that were on the sidewalk even the offers that were made for cash payment.
On the same subject, the CEO of a refrigerator in the area pointed out that the international price of beef is low, both in the European Union market and in the Chinese volume market.
In this line, he opined that 2023 started with values that established a floor and anticipated that the situation would improve when the European Union defined the values of energy. Something similar would happen after the Chinese New Year and the end of the restrictions.
If the drought caused a greater supply of animals and the sale was anticipated due to lack of feed in the fields, the rains gave farmers a margin to speculate with the increase in prices.
Regarding prices, the businessman maintained that cattle prices were far behind until the first half of January, around 30 percent compared to inflation.
The butchers from La Plata consulted by EL DIA highlighted that it was curious that meat did not increase for the holidays.
However, this month the price of consumer goods in the Cañuelas Market began to move after four months of decline. The first increase was 5 percent compared to December. But as previously reported, since last Friday it is up 24 percent.
The ranchers had highlighted that between last August and December they had a real value loss of 22 percent.
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This increase came as a bucket of cold water for butchers and consumers because, due to a seasonal issue, January is not usually a time of significant price adjustment.
It is believed that this is a month of low consumption in large urban centers due to the break imposed by the holidays. It is also believed that high temperatures encourage consumers to eat other types of dishes and that meat intake is reduced.
La Plata butchers thought that the price adjustments for meat always occurred between February and March, coinciding with the start of classes and the return to the family routine.
