There is more life in the beef trade with factories starting to look to source cattle, something they have not had to do for quite some time. Agents have been told to increase purchasing activity and not to let potential deals pass. Throughput is being maintained in some plants by bringing in cattle from other regions and while this is providing a reprieve, it will not last in the long term. While agents have been given licence to compete with more vigour for stock, they are still by and large being curtailed in releasing the purse strings significantly. There are more deals for steers and heifers being completed at a base of €3.75/kg and €3.85/kg with select deals involving large numbers and regular sellers in cases rising 5c/kg higher.
There is more life in the beef trade with factories starting to look to source cattle, something they have not had to do for quite some time. Agents have been told to increase purchasing activity and not to let potential deals pass. Throughput is being maintained in some plants by bringing in cattle from other regions and while this is providing a reprieve, it will not last in the long term.
While agents have been given licence to compete with more vigour for stock, they are still by and large being curtailed in releasing the purse strings significantly. There are more deals for steers and heifers being completed at a base of €3.75/kg and €3.85/kg with select deals involving large numbers and regular sellers in cases rising 5c/kg higher.
Penalties on cattle deemed out-of-spec are also been lessened or removed to secure deals. The greatest potential for this is with bulls but big differences remain between and even within plants. Some plants which were sticking regimentally to carcase weight limits of 430kg to 440kg are now letting odd bulls go to higher weights without implementing penalties. As has been the case in the last three weeks, plants are working their way through bulls that have exceeded 24 months of age. Price penalties for these bulls were in the region of 30c/kg to 50c/kg where combined with overweight carcases but some producers are now negotiating cuts as little as 10c/kg to 20c/kg.
General prices for bulls ticking all the boxes on specifications range from €3.55/kg to €3.70/kg for U grades, €3.45/kg to €3.55/kg for R grades and €3.20/kg to €3.35/kg for O grades with some producers pushing prices to €3.40/kg.
Feeders anxious
There is more life in the cow trade, particularly in marts where feeders are anxious for feeding types and inserting competition into the trade for short-keep or slaughter-fit cows. Factory prices are marginally stronger with more P+3 grades falling into the €2.80/kg to €2.85/kg price category with O grades pushing towards €2.90/kg. R grades meanwhile range from €3.05/kg to €3.15/kg on average while U grades range from €3.20/kg to €3.30/kg in the main with top prices rising to €3.40/kg for well-fleshed cows.
EU prices
The latest Bord Bia price analysis shows Irish beef prices remaining weak compared to many of the main EU markets. The Irish R3 steer beef price excluding VAT (of 5.4%) is reported at €3.63/kg compared to €3.67/kg in France, €3.94/kg in Northern Ireland and €3.99/kg in Britain. The Irish price is running 28c/kg below the corresponding period in 2018 with the French price 5c/kg higher while the Northern Irish and British price is 17c/kg and 21c/kg lower.
Looking at bulls, the latest Irish R3 young bull price was recorded at €3.34/kg excluding VAT. The only other price listed as lower is the Polish R3 price of €3.07/kg. The Spanish R3 price is recorded at €3.79/kg, the German price at €3.63/kg, the French price at €3.80/kg, while the Italian price of €4.03/kg is the strongest.
The price in Northern Ireland and Britain where, like Ireland, bulls make up a smaller percentage of the kill, are listed at €3.78/kg and €3.82/kg respectively.
Having fallen from one of the top performers in the EU cow market 12 months ago, Irish prices remain towards the bottom of the price table with the price of €2.70/kg representing a massive fall of 60c/kg. The reported O3 price of €2.70/kg excluding VAT is above Spain with a price of €2.43/kg and Poland at €2.64/kg.
The German and Italian prices are similar at €2.94/kg and €2.92/kg respectively. This is a fall in these markets of 30c/kg and 15c/kg below the equivalent week in 2018. The Northern Irish and British prices are also easier than 12 months ago with the current price of €2.83/kg and €2.96/kg respectively representing a reduction of 43c/kg and 28c/kg.
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