The coronavirus outbreak continues to impact the commodity markets and ArrowStream's economists are closely monitoring the environment. This week, they commented on the shifts in beef production, which have been tracking above year-ago levels, up 12.9 percent.  

Beef & Proteins Outlook

"This increase makes sense given record beef prices for late March and relatively low cattle markets. Thus, one would think that cattle are being pulled ahead, which could limit supply in the coming weeks. And an indication of that would be lighter cattle carcass weights. But as the chart shows the opposite may be true. There appear to be plenty of cattle, and, if anything, they’re backing up. Good news for beef supplies in the near term. More good news for beef buyers - prices are starting to decline."

"Beef is not alone. Other foodservice sensitive food markets are starting to fall rather sharply as well including pork bellies (bacon), cheese, and various chicken markets. The bad news - there is now a greater threat to production interruptions as profitability for producers decline."

COVID-19 Resource Center for Foodservice

ArrowStream's sole priority as a leader and partner in the foodservice space has been, and continues to be, providing our customers and network with the tools, data and resources to help professionals prepare, stay updated and make necessary business decisions.

As we look to answering questions short-term and planning for long-term recovery, we encourage all to visit our Resource Center.