There has been no real change in the beef trade in recent days. Steers continue to trade in the main at a base of €4.00/kg with heifers at a base of €4.10/kg. Finishers trading at the higher end of the market are in cases securing 3c/kg to 5c/kg extra with more scope reported in negotiations for in-spec heifers over steers. Some plants continue to favour deals on transport or weight allowances rather than offering higher prices.Plants continue to manage throughput by using bulls and cows to supplement lower throughput of steers and heifers. R and U grade bulls are trading in the main for €3.95/kg and €4.00/kg to €4.05/kg respectively. The higher quote for U grades is for lighter bulls less than 430kg carcase weight. Again, many sellers are securing higher weight allowances with specialised finishers in many cases getting away without any cuts up to 450kg carcase weight. Bulls less than 16 months are also in demand with bulls trading on the grid at a similar base price to steers. This excludes the 12c/kg quality payment scheme (QPS) for animals meeting the required criteria. Friesian bulls are trading from €3.80/kg to €3.90/kg for O=/+ and R grade bulls.
There has been no real change in the beef trade in recent days. Steers continue to trade in the main at a base of €4.00/kg with heifers at a base of €4.10/kg. Finishers trading at the higher end of the market are in cases securing 3c/kg to 5c/kg extra with more scope reported in negotiations for in-spec heifers over steers. Some plants continue to favour deals on transport or weight allowances rather than offering higher prices.
Plants continue to manage throughput by using bulls and cows to supplement lower throughput of steers and heifers. R and U grade bulls are trading in the main for €3.95/kg and €4.00/kg to €4.05/kg respectively. The higher quote for U grades is for lighter bulls less than 430kg carcase weight. Again, many sellers are securing higher weight allowances with specialised finishers in many cases getting away without any cuts up to 450kg carcase weight. Bulls less than 16 months are also in demand with bulls trading on the grid at a similar base price to steers. This excludes the 12c/kg quality payment scheme (QPS) for animals meeting the required criteria. Friesian bulls are trading from €3.80/kg to €3.90/kg for O=/+ and R grade bulls.
Cow kill holding steady
The cow kill is holding steady but agents are working harder to source numbers. P+3 grading cows have increased on price, selling from a wide range from €3.00/kg to €3.20/kg while fleshed O grades are trading from €3.20/kg to €3.35/kg with very large numbers selling to €3.40/kg. R grades are moving from €3.50/kg to 43.65/kg at the higher end of the market with U grades to €3.70/kg.
Steady NI trade
The northern trade is steady with the weekly kill on a par to previous weeks. Plants remain on a U-3 base of £3.06/kg to £3.08/kg (€4.07/kg to €4.09/kg) but specialised finishers or those with higher numbers are securing 6p/kg to 8p/kg extra. As reported last week British beef prices have steadied somewhat but pressure still remains on the trade. Average prices have eased slightly by 0.4p/kg with R4L steers and heifers trading at £3.21/kg and £3.22/kg (equivalent of €4.27/kg to €4.28/kg).
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