Feed costs loom over robust expected 2013 demand
Increasing costs will meet increased demand
January 23, 2013
Researchers predicted robust demand in 2013 but warned of a recent rise in feed costs that could eat into margins for meat companies. The report says that demand has increased for corn as livestock feed and yields suffered due to 2012’s drought. That has led to a 17 percent decrease in product inventories. Meat companies, unlikely to absorb the increases in input cost, will likely increase prices alongside rising feed costs. That increase is possible due to increasing global demand from the growing middle class in India, China and Brazil.