Chicago | Reuters — JBS USA will remove a growth drug banned by Beijing from its U.S. hog supply, the company said on Friday, accelerating the competition for pork exports as China grapples with a devastating pig disease. The meat packer’s move away from the drug ractopamine, a feed additive, shows how companies are maneuvering […] Read more
JBS USA to produce pork without ractopamine
U.S. livestock: Hogs extend losing streak
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. hog futures fell for the fourth day in a row on Friday, extending a losing streak that pulled prices off a two-week high hit on Monday. Traders said gains in the futures earlier in the week outpaced cash market strength and the spread between the two markets needed correcting. Cattle […] Read more
Japan deal levels field for U.S. beef, but sales surge unlikely
Tokyo/Chicago | Reuters — U.S. beef exporters, unhappy after President Donald Trump pulled out of a multilateral trade pact in 2017, stand to sell more meat in Japan after the U.S. leader and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe cut a deal to slice into tariffs. But agriculture experts say that for now, that boost may […] Read more
Brazil’s JBS says it uses satellites to monitor cattle suppliers
Sao Paulo | Reuters — The world’s largest meatpacker JBS SA is closely monitoring the origin of the cattle it buys in Brazil amid heightened concerns about environmental preservation and sustainable business practices, its CEO said Wednesday. Speaking at an industry event in Sao Paulo, JBS CEO Gilberto Tomazoni said the company is using satellite […] Read more
USDA to probe beef market after Tyson plant fire
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue ordered an investigation into widening prices between cattle and beef on Wednesday after a recent fire at a Tyson Foods slaughterhouse in Holcomb, Kansas, shut the plant. Cattle prices have tanked because the fire temporarily eliminated a key buyer of livestock. Producers have worried that meat […] Read more
Packers win dismissal of U.S. pork price-fixing suits
Reuters — A federal judge on Thursday dismissed antitrust lawsuits accusing several large U.S. pork companies of conspiring to limit the supply of pork to inflate prices and their own profits at the expense of consumers and other purchasers. Chief Judge John Tunheim of the federal court in Minneapolis said the plaintiffs failed to show […] Read more
U.S. launches criminal probe into alleged chicken price fixing by Tyson, rivals
Reuters — The U.S. Department of Justice has begun a criminal probe into allegations that Tyson Foods and other poultry processors including Pilgrim’s Pride and Sanderson Farms colluded to fix poultry prices, court documents show. The DOJ filed a motion to intervene and stay discovery of evidence in an antitrust lawsuit involving the companies and […] Read more
R-CALF suit alleges U.S. packers conspired to suppress fed cattle prices
Reuters — Four of the largest U.S. beef-packing companies were accused in a lawsuit on Tuesday of violating federal antitrust law by conspiring to drive down prices they paid ranchers for cattle, even as retail beef prices hovered near record levels. Tyson Foods, Cargill, the JBS USA unit of Brazil’s JBS and National Beef Packing […] Read more
JBS predicts profits will be stronger this year
Sao Paulo | Reuters — JBS SA executives said Friday the Brazilian meat company will deliver higher earnings in 2019 on strong demand for beef in the U.S. and Australia as well as growing Chinese demand for various proteins. Still, first-quarter results will reflect lower cattle availability in the U.S. due to rains and a […] Read more
U.S. investigators question shareholders of Brazil’s JBS
Brasilia | Reuters –– U.S. investigators this week visited Brazil to question shareholders of J+F Investimentos, the holding company that controls meatpacker JBS SA, as part of an existing plea deal, Brazilian prosecutors said on Friday in a statement. U.S. authorities have been investigating the companies controlled by J+F since their largest shareholders — brothers […] Read more
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