The Argentina government announced its suspension of beef exports for 30 days on May 17, citing increasing demand from top-buyer China over recent years. “Prices have experienced a sustained rise as a result of the growing demand for these products, mainly from Asian markets,” the Argentinian government said in the official gazette. “There is a price distortion that goes beyond the general inflation rate for food and prevents the normal supply of food products to consumers in the domestic market.” The gazette announcement added that the suspension would be lifted once the normal local supply of beef was assured at reasonable agreed prices. The Buenos Aires Times reported that consumer prices rose 4.1 percent last month, according to the INDEC national statistics bureau, outpacing private forecasts. Inflation in the first four months of the year now totals 17.6 percent. Annually, the rate is 46.3 percent. Argentina, a major exporter of beef in …