Trouble in the Chinese stock market and the devaluation of the Chinese currency is wreaking havoc with agricultural production companies in China, which may cause some short-term weakness in the global beef trade.  The light at the end of the tunnel is that retail sales in that country are steady and yet production (especially pork) is dropping at a staggering rate in China, which could cause a scramble later on for meat products for import. Good times are ahead, but there could be some valleys and tough treading before we get there, hang on!

Meat and other agricultural businesses in China have been among the worst hit by the slump affecting Chinese stock exchanges. [read full article]