Cattle price rebounds amid shrinking herd

U.S. cattle prices will rebound to a record this year as a recovery in the world’s largest economy stokes demand for red meat, top beef producer JBS SA (JBSS3) said.

The increase in consumption is coming at a time ranches in the U.S. still haven’t recuperated from a drought that reduced herds and led Cargill Inc. to shut a plant in January, JBS Chief Executive Officer Wesley Batista said yesterday in an interview at the headquarters of JBS’s parent J&F Participacoes SA in Sao Paulo. Cattle futures have dropped 4.9 percent in Chicago from a record $1.35175 a pound on Jan. 11 amid speculation that a rise in retail beef prices will boost demand for chicken meat and pork.