The beef trade has remained relatively stable this week for the second week in a row after a number of weeks of reducing quotes.

Bullocks have remained at a base price of €6.60/kg to €6.70/kg, while heifers are working off a base price of €6.70/kg to €6.80/kg. Some factories have moved heifer quotes to over €6.80/kg for next week.

Higher quotes are being reserved for those with numbers at the moment, but it’s a sign that the trade is starting to turn on the back of tighter numbers coming forward for slaughter over the next few weeks.

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Flat prices of €7.10/kg are also on the table for in-spec Aberdeen Angus bullocks and heifers.

There are less delays in getting cattle killed, with agents generally active looking for stock this week in both farmyards and mart rings.

There are still issues getting breed bonuses in some factories, with bonuses for both Hereford and Aberdeen Angus cattle harder to come by in some locations in the last few weeks.

Factories appear to have ample supplies at the moment and are able to remove the premiums with little effect on supply.

Finishers continue to be squeezed, with a number of hauliers putting up their prices in the last week on the back of increased diesel costs.

Finishing rations are also going up €20/tonne in a lot of feed mills, which will heap further pressure on finishing margins.

Cows

R grading cows are being priced at €6.40/kg to €6.50/kg. U grading cows are being bought at €6.70/kg.

O grading cows are being bought for €6.20/kg to €6.30/kg. P+3 cows are coming in at €6.10/kg to €6.30/kg, with some factories quoting lower for very light cows.

Bulls

R grading bulls are coming in at €6.80/kg to €6.90/kg and U grading bulls are being quoted at €7.00/kg, although bulls are in short supply, with low numbers being killed.

There are a number of operators still able to squeeze €7/kg for mixtures of R and U grading bulls.

O grading bulls are working off an all-in price of €6.50/kg to €6.70/kg, while P grading bulls are being quoted at €6.40/kg to €6.50/kg, depending on weight and flesh cover.

Under-16-month bulls are working off a €6.70/kg base price on the grid.

Last week’s kill came in at just under 31,000 head, with drops seen across all stock categories, with the exception of cows, which remained steady for the week.

Last week’s kill remained over 5,000 head behind the same week in 2025 with over 70,000 fewer cattle processed this year compared with last year. The heifer kill has seen one of the largest drops, with over 25,000 fewer heifers killed so far in 2026.

Brazilian imports

Moving further afield, Brazilian beef imports into the EU have been very strong over the last number of months.

Imports of chilled Brazilian beef into the EU came in at 6,251t for the first three months of 2026, up 60% on the same period in 2025.

Brazilian imports to the EU came in at 2,500t for March, up from just over 2,000t in February and 1,500t in January.

Just over 15,000t of frozen Brazilian beef was also imported from January to March 2026, up 9% on the 2025 levels.

Italy and the Netherlands accounted for the largest imports of Brazilian beef, accounting for 8,116t and 4,517t respectively.

There remains some confusion in the Mercosur countries as to how the new 99,000t quota will be split up between countries.

Smaller countries throughout the European Union want an equal slice of the pie, while larger countries are arguing that the tonnage should be split up based on the size of the country.