The modest increase in cattle prices continued in Britain last week, with prices now 6p/kg (8c/kg) above the bottom of the market there at the end of April. It is a similar picture in Northern Ireland, with prices on the R3 steer up 5p/kg (6.7c/kg).

Reports suggest very strong prices are being offered to sellers in Northern Ireland for next week and it appears that winter finishers are getting a long awaited boost. Irish prices too have been edging up slowly as numbers continue well below 30,000 in the weekly kill. Average R3 steer prices for week ending 22 May were €3.95/kg, R3 heifers €4.05/kg and O3 cows €3.18/kg all excluding vat.

Market trends

The market for beef itself at the moment is a very mixed bag, with steak cuts and ribs enjoying the seasonal pickup in demand across all markets. However, manufacturing trade remains very sluggish, with cold stores reporting that they are holding very large stocks of beef.

The other major issue for the Irish beef industry is the performance of the euro against sterling and as opinion polls are increasingly suggesting that the UK will vote to stay in the EU on 23 June, sterling has strengthened against the euro, dipping below €0.76=£1. This makes Irish exports better value in the sterling zone, but for Northern Ireland, the stringer sterling gets, the more difficult trade becomes.

Continental trends

While Irish and UK prices have had a modest lift in recent weeks, the picture remains bleak for domestic cattle prices in our main trading partner countries after the UK. In France, our second-largest export market, R3 steers were struggling along at €3.54/kg, while R3 heifers were on €3.84/kg during week ending 22 May. Cows in France were trading at €3.07/kg for O3 grades, 11c/kg behind the Irish price.

Italy, which had been performing ahead of Ireland for much of this year with their young bull R3 prices ahead of Irish steers, have slipped back in recent weeks with R3 young bulls making €3.81/kg last week while heifers traded at €3.87/kg and O3 cows were making €2.56/kg. In Germany where young bulls had also been selling well earlier this year, prices have fallen back to €3.74/kg for the R3 young bull at the end of last week. Heifers were making €3.44/kg, while O3 cows were at €2.60/kg.

Spain is reporting R3 young bulls at 364/kg, heifers at €3.73/kg and O3 cows at €2.19/kg, while the Netherlands, a lucrative market for quality Irish beef, particularly hind quarter cuts, is very weak for domestic cattle at €2.81/kg for R3 young bulls and €2.52/kg for O3 cows.

Stronger markets

Scandinavia is a more positive picture and also growing into a key continental export market for Irish beef. Sweden has a relatively small domestic kill of cattle and historically was very much a cow beef market, its beef industry essentially being a byproduct of its dairy industry.

Currently their herd is made up of 337,000 dairy cows and 176,000 suckler cows, providing for an annual kill around 450,000 cattle, about a quarter of the Irish kill and comparable with the Northern Ireland annual cattle kill.

Their currency, the Swedish Kroner is also strong at the moment and the prices reported for the week ending 22 May were €1.90/kg for R3 steers and €5.04/kg for R3 heifers with O3 cows making €4.26/kg.