“JBS beef exports will increase 30 percent and the U.S. industry will export 10 percent” more beef this year than last year, Batista said at an agricultural symposium in Kansas City sponsored by the Federal Reserve, according to Bloomberg news. “We are seeing an improvement in demand in emerging economies.”
U.S. cattle prices that jumped to a 19-month high in May have eroded demand, Batista said. Futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange have dropped 8.4 percent in the past month.