Argentina: Livestock and Products Semi-annual

After three years of dry weather conditions which have challenged the Argentine beef cattle industry, Post estimates that Argentine cattle slaughter and beef production will both drop in 2023, in line with official USDA estimates. If weather conditions begin to normalize in March and April with the end of the La Nina climate pattern, improvements in pasture conditions could permit producers to retain more cattle, potentially leading to higher prices. A reduction in beef output will be reduce both domestic consumption and exports relative to 2022. Post raises its 2023 export estimate to 780,000 tons carcass weight equivalent (CWE), marginally higher than the official USDA number, but 45,000 tons CWE lower than in 2022. China is expected to continue to be the main destination of Argentine beef, accounting for approximately 75 percent of the total.