In the midst of the “war against inflation”, the national government is following with concern what could happen to the price of meat, the central item of the food basket which has shown an upward trend in recent days. Behind the 40% increase in the price of fat farms for slaughterThey fear the jump will be prolonged and have a full impact on meat etiquette in gondolas and butchers.
To cushion the blow, Massa prepares a package of measures which provides for a 10 per cent refund for those who pay for meat with a debit card, tax breaks for businesses and also economic incentives for agricultural fattening, but in the meat supply chain I don’t think the intervention is effective and insure it the price of meat is determined solely by supply and demand.
“Whether it will increase or not will depend on the consumer, where there is more supply, we will have to see if the market accepts a higher price,” says Buenos Aires cattle rancher Martín Harrington.
Agricultural market operator Gonzalo Lafuente agrees with him, who explains that the 30-40 percent increase in recent days, more than a relaunch it was a recomposition. “Last year there was a lot of supply and the price was way below inflation because the buyer ends up staring at it and people don’t have any money in their pockets,” he says. Lafuente explains that last weekend, with the return of the holidays and empty fridges, people bought a lot of meat, and that high demand has been combined with low supply that is seasonal and this is due to the fact that the feed was emptied in December and in January they rearranged the farm very little to avoid the death of the animals due to the extreme heat.
“It happens every year, it’s a matter of cyclesnow in February we start buying feed again and in a hundred days we will see more offers on the market”, he explains, even if he clarifies that for this year a lower overall volume of meat can be expected because drought logically affects the production of calves and beef. “There will be a shortage of kilos throughout the year, there is little supply in general,” she notes.
In this regard Harrington says that the effect of the last rains has only begun to be seen on the field, but assures that “at the slightest expectation of rain, the producer keeps the farm”.
On the usefulness of the measures that Economy Minister Sergio Massa is evaluating, Lafuente is frank: “All the measures that have been taken were always to interrupt the meat circuit. This is very simple, in three months it settles down”.
Source: Clarin
