Colombia sees a 3.4% drop in Q2 2016 cattle slaughter

During the second quarter of 2016 , 931,943 cattle were slaughtered , representing a variation of -3.4% compared to the same period of 2015 where 964,838 head were slaughtered and a variation of -1.3% was recorded. Slaughter of male calves showed a variation of -9.1% and -0.9% respectively, while the slaughter of females had a variation of 0.5%. In turn, the slaughter of cattle destined for export registered a variation of 222.9% from 7,838 heads in the second quarter of 2015 to 25,305 heads in the second quarter.

It is notable that there was a substantial increase in cattle slaughter for export from Colombia.

By department , the biggest shares in the slaughter of cattle in the second quarter of 2016 were recorded in Antioquia (17.9%) with 167,124 head, Bogotá1 (16.6%) 154,933 head, Santander (7.8%) 72,851 head, Valle del Cauca (6.5%) Meta heads and 60,175 (5.8%) 54 238 head.
Detailed report is here. (Spanish) . The terms of slaughter intended for export presented a variation of 209.0%, 53,692 head were slaughtered in the second quarter of 2016 and the same period last year 17,377 head.
The slaugther of buffaloes recorded change of 32.6% from the first half of 2015 was 44.8%. By sex, females presented the slaughter variation of 88.3% and 22.2% males. Almost 4 million head of cattle were slaughtered in 2015. The figure for first half 2016 is 1.87 million head. A range of data indicates Columbia is in the top 10 in terms of global cattle inventory. An MLA report in 2016 indicated Colombia cattle prices were similar to Peru at around US$300 per 100 kg liveweight sold.