News Meat
Omikron variant squeezes production capacity in US
The rapidly spreading omikron variant is putting increasing pressure on the processing capacity of meat processing companies in the United States. In addition to employees of slaughterhouses, more and more government inspectors are also becoming infected.
In particular, the supply of beef appears to have been tightened due to declining processing capacity. Beef prices recently rose to their highest level since November. That while prices were already at a high level. Beef production was 5,3% lower last week than a year earlier. Beef prices rose by a further 1,3%, the US Department of Agriculture reported.
High absenteeism rate
Spokespersons from various meat processing companies and interest groups confirm the problem in the media. It is estimated that the absenteeism rate is currently 8%, which is almost twice as high as normal. A spokesman for the US Department of Agriculture also indicates that more and more inspection personnel are becoming infected. It therefore has to shift considerably in order to maintain the level of staffing.
Not only meat processing companies are affected. In many sectors, the limited availability of personnel is currently a thorny issue. The current problems are fueling fears of further rising inflation in the United States, especially if the problems last longer than expected and this will weigh on production capacity over a longer period of time.
Steve Wissink
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