Chinanews Client Beijing, August 27th (Reporter Xie Yiguan) "Second Brothers" have risen in value, and "Bull Demon King" has also begun to exert efforts. Recently, "Beef Price Rising" has made hot searches. How much did beef prices go up?
Beef prices have risen for 10 consecutive weeks
How about bull market prices in various places? The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs conducted fixed-point monitoring of the fairs in 500 counties across the country. In the third week of August, the national average price of beef was 83.66 yuan/kg, up 0.2% from the previous week and 14.4% year-on-year.
Among them, the average price of beef in major producing provinces such as Hebei, Liaoning, Jilin, Shandong and Henan was 75.00 yuan/kg, an increase of 0.1% from the previous week; the average price of beef in provinces such as Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangsu was 97.83 yuan/kg, compared with the previous A decrease of 0.3% in one week.
It is worth mentioning that since the 3rd week of June, as of the 3rd week of August, the national average beef price has increased month-on-month for 10 consecutive weeks, with an increase of 2% during the period.
At the wholesale end, the “National Agricultural Products Wholesale Market Price Information System” of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs shows that the wholesale price of beef has increased month-on-month for 8 consecutive weeks, from 70.93 yuan per kilogram to 73.24 yuan per kilogram.
In a vegetable market in Xicheng District, Beijing, a vendor selling beef and mutton said, “The price of beef has risen by two yuan from last month. It used to be 38 yuan a catty, and now it is 40 yuan.”
"Not only the price of beef has risen, but the price of mutton has also risen some time ago." The vendor added.
Data map: beef in the supermarket. Photo by Xie Yiguan
In a beef shop in Fengtai District, Beijing, a clerk told a reporter from Chinanews.com that the price of beef in the shop has not yet risen. The beef stewed at present costs 40 yuan a catty. If fried, the tenderloin beef is 45 yuan a catty, and the hind leg meat is 41 yuan a catty.
"Beef prices are fairly stable. After all, pork is now more than 30 yuan per catty, which is about to catch up with beef." A resident said.
The reporter noticed that on the e-commerce platform, the price of beef is concentrated between 40 yuan and 70 yuan. In contrast, imported beef is cheaper.
The off-season is not short, why do prices continue to rise?
Summer is not the traditional peak season for beef consumption. Why do prices continue to rise?
On the one hand, production is insufficient and supply is relatively tight. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first half of 2020, the country's beef cattle production was 18.79 million heads, a decrease of 390,000 heads from the same period of the previous year, a decrease of 2.1%; beef production was 2.78 million tons, a decrease of 100,000 tons, a decrease of 3.4%.
On the other hand, affected by the spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic abroad, my country's meat imports have decreased.
The Director of the Import and Export Food Safety Bureau of the General Administration of Customs, Bi Kexin, said at a press conference on July 10 that in response to the recent cluster infections in meat and aquatic products companies in some countries, measures have been taken to suspend imports of their products. Germany, Imports of products from 23 overseas meat production companies including the United States, Brazil, and the United Kingdom.
Gao Guan, vice president of the China Meat Association, said that with the stabilization of the epidemic, domestic restaurant operations have gradually returned to normal, and beef demand has rebounded. Coupled with the influence of African swine fever and rising consumption levels of Chinese people, beef consumption has continued to increase in recent years. Drive beef prices up.
On February 19, citizens of Lanzhou City, Gansu Province, ate in a beef noodle restaurant. Photo by China News Agency reporter Yang Yanmin
According to data from the China Business Industry Research Institute, my country's beef consumption increased rapidly to 8.329 million tons in 2019, an increase of 11.36% year-on-year, and the growth rate was the highest in the past three years. Per capita consumption of beef has also gradually increased, from 4.88 kg in 2016 to 5.95 kg in 2019.
Another analysis pointed out that the breeding costs of feed, infrastructure, etc. have increased, and the prices of calves and shelf cattle have increased year by year, which has also pushed up the price of live cattle to a certain extent, causing the price of terminal beef to rise.
What is the future trend of beef prices?
The price of beef has been rising for 10 consecutive weeks. People are most concerned about whether the price will continue to rise. Boiled beef, beef with green onions, beef with potatoes, beef brisket with tomatoes...After all, it is always indispensable in home cooking.
According to comprehensive market analysis, the shortfall in beef supply and demand is still the main factor restricting the later price decline.
Data map: Fattening cattle of a livestock breeding enterprise in Altay City, Xinjiang. Photo by Sun Tingwen
However, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that at the end of the second quarter, there were 94.81 million cattle in the country, a year-on-year increase of 2.5% and a month-on-month increase of 3.0%. According to the data of the professional version of Tianyancha, as of August 20, my country has added 78,000 cattle breeding-related companies this year (all company status), which has exceeded the total number of new related companies for the whole year of 2019, an increase from last year. 95%.
Si Zhizhi, an associate researcher at the Institute of Agricultural Products Processing of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, believes that from the perspective of supply, national beef cattle production is steadily returning to normal, new cattle farms are gradually started and completed, and new capacity is expected to increase later. Entering the peak season for slaughter, the production capacity of slaughter and processing enterprises will be released, and the beef market supply will be guaranteed. From the perspective of demand, most catering companies resume operations, the peak tourist season is approaching, and the "double festival" effect is driven. At the same time, the demand for alternative consumption of beef due to the rebound of pork prices will increase. Before "October", there will be a wave of rising prices for beef nationwide.
"In the long run, due to strong demand, cost support and unstable supply in foreign markets, domestic beef prices may remain high." Si Zhizhi said.
Is the beef you bought recently expensive? (Finish)