Research

The Mexican Cattle and Beef Sector to 2025: Challenges and Opportunities

11 January 2018 13:58 RaboResearch

The Mexican beef sector is evolving—in particular the largest beef producers. During the last decade, and despite the contraction in the cattle herd, packing plants...

Rabobank

Summary

    After several years of contraction, the Mexican cattle herd began to recover in 2015. We anticipate this expansion to weaken, yet continue, through 2019. The main challenge for Mexican beef producers is (and will remain) securing access to cattle, as inefficiencies persist at the reproduction level. In addition, cattle exports will continue to constrain the sector. A new classification system enforced by the government is expected to bring certainty to the market by determining the quality of the beef produced and by paying a premium to beef producers domestically and internationally. This should incentivize domestic producers to improve practices and produce better quality meat. Consumption remains sluggish due to high prices and slow growth in consumer income, although consumption per capita is anticipated to grow modestly through 2019. Around 50 percent of beef consumption comes from 30 percent of the population. Consequently, the challenge for the sector is to produce more affordable beef for middle and lower income groups.

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