The beef trade remains solid with prices largely unchanged on last week’s levels. A high percentage of steers are trading on a base of €4.20/kg, with heifers continuing to run 10c/kg higher at a base of €4.30/kg.

Factories are trying to this week dig in on price and limit further upward movement but are less concerned about carcase weight and age limits. Last week’s kill data is not yet available but reports indicate throughput is likely to be comparable to the previous week.

Cows are largely unchanged and remain a great trade in the factory and mart

Bull throughput continues to creep upwards as more spring 2017-born bulls finished under 16 months come on stream.

The general base price offered is €4.20/kg but some specialist finishers competing at the top end of the market have secured a base of €4.25/kg. This excludes the 12c/kg QPS bonus for in-spec stock.

A similar trend is evident for bulls over 16 months and less than 24 months with R and U grades selling in general for €4.15/kg and €4.25/kg, respectively, with top prices 5c/kg higher.

Cow trade

Cows are largely unchanged and remain a great trade in the factory and mart. P+3 grades continue to trade from €3.45/kg all the way to €3.60/kg with fleshed O grading cows trading from €3.50/kg to €3.65/kg, while R grade cows average €3.70/kg to €3.80/kg but are capable of rising to €3.90/kg in cow specialist plants while U grades are trading from €3.80/kg to €4.00/kg.

Northern trade

The northern trade is also solid with supplies showing more signs of tightening. Base U-3 quotes for steers and heifers are generally being offered in opening negotiations from £3.62/kg to £3.64/kg or the equivalent of €4.15/kg to €4.17/kg at 87.3p to the euro and €4.37/kg to €4.39/kg including VAT at 5.4%. Regular sellers are having much more success in pushing prices to the high £3.60s, while those competing at the top of the market are pushing returns well into the £3.70s.