Food shoppers in South Korea, Mexico and Japan are fueling a surge in U.S. beef prices just as demand is set to reach a seasonal peak this month and retailers including Sam’s Club promote the meat in stores.
Retail beef rose to a record $4.475 a pound in March, up 13 percent from a year earlier, after all-time highs the previous three months, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. The USDA will report April prices today. Supplies have tightened as South Korea tripled imports of U.S. beef in the first quarter from a year earlier, and Japan’s purchases rose 63 percent, data show.
Costs are gaining at a time when consumers usually boost purchases by 25 percent from April 1 to the end of May, when warmer weather encourages grilling outdoors, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association said, citing data from FreshLook Marketing Group LLC. The three-day weekend that includes the Memorial Day holiday, on May 30 this year, is usually the busiest, the Livestock Marketing Information Center estimates.
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