USA: Week 28 Broiler Market Review 2023

Average prices for chicken cuts showed a negative trend, prices for all types of cuts fell, except for wings, which went up by 4.2%, as well as chicken breast, the price of which remained unchanged from last week.

Poultry suppliers in the US are challenging price-fixing claims. Meatpacking plants have questioned the legality of ceding some antitrust claims.

  Tyson Foods, Perdue Farms and other major MEAT industry suppliers that are battling price-fixing claims in US COURT said they oppose a plan to allow a lawsuit-funding affiliate to sue in the cases.

In a lawsuit in Chicago, chicken producers questioned the legality of food distributor Sysco's move to cede certain antitrust claims to Carina Ventures, which is linked to litigation-financing company Burford Capital.

The defendants also told the court that "there are serious questions about the validity" of the agreement between Sysco and Carina. They pointed to a legal doctrine that prohibits the purchase of claims in a lawsuit by "strangers".

Sysco is the plaintiff in an antitrust case in federal courts in Minnesota and Chicago, where the company and other corporate plaintiffs allege chicken suppliers conspired to artificially inflate prices for years.

Burford, which bills itself as the world's largest funder of litigation, invests in cases in exchange for a piece of any settlement or judgment at the end.

Critics of such arrangements warn that court sponsors control cases. Burford has often stated that it does not dictate the settlement strategy in its funded cases. Burford and Sysco declined to comment.

 The meat companies have asked the Chicago court to deny Sysco the assignment of its claims, or at least allow the companies to more fully examine the legal issues before making a decision.  

Price dynamics and sales volumes of broilers

Average weighted price for broilers by region

Region

Weighted average price, cents/pound

Sales volume (thousand pounds)

Week 27

Week 28

Growth per week,%

Week 27

Week 28

Growth per week,%

Oriental

128.13

122.63

-4.3%

4081

4 590

12.5%

Central

121.82

116.71

-4.2%

2748

3029

10.2%

West

132.12

126.85

-4.0%

2910

2655

-8.8%

Dynamics of prices for chicken cutting

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