The bad news continued this week for farmers taking cattle to the factory, with further price falls.
The mart trade isn’t as bad due to the combination of this being the quiet season for cattle sales and an abundance of grass in most parts of the country alongside good harvests of silage encouraging buyers.
Stabilisation in UK
Good news around the beef trade is scarce at the minute, so anything that suggests a hint of hope will be grabbed with both hands. The first positive is that there are signs of stability emerging in in Britain, with the average steer price up 0.4p/kg last week after several weeks of prices falling.
In the North, the R3 steer price was up 1.4p/kg and a healthier 6.6p/kg for R3 heifers, with young bulls up 4.5p/kg for the R3 grade (LMC prices). As reported in Beef Trends this week, there are also more enquiries about beef for next week.
All of this finds its way back to the farmer, with prices falling week on week in what are usually the best weeks of the year to sell cattle
Peak summer season isn’t when beef sales are ordinarily expected to surge, but 2019 has not been an ordinary year. Consumption of beef in the EU is back 2%, while 2018 was an exceptionally high year for beef imports and a poor year for exports.
On top of this, we had the build-up to what was supposed to be Brexit on 31 March, with stockpiling of supplies that were then released on to the market when Brexit didn’t happen. All of this finds its way back to the farmer, with prices falling week on week in what are usually the best weeks of the year to sell cattle.
EU less attractive market than a year ago
The picture for the first half of 2019 is somewhat different in that imports were down – the weak EU market was of less interest to South American exporters than the strong market in the first half of 2018 was.
Overall imports to the EU between January and May 2019 were 135,679t carcase weight equivalent (CWE) compared with 142,266t for the same period last year. On the other side, EU exports are ahead of 2018 levels for January to May at 304,619t CWE compared with 299,727t CWE for the same period in 2018. The one negative in the EU market is that the 1% drop in production is more than offset by the 2% drop in consumer demand.
Strong demand in Asia
Outside the EU it is a fairly robust beef market. Demand in China is continuing its upward trend, with imports of beef at 133,000t in June. This is a 61% increase on the same month last year according to Bloomberg.
Japan and South Korea, who had representatives visiting Ireland this week, are also showing year-on-year increases.
Global prices
Cattle prices outside the EU are still below our average but, with the exception of Brazil, are not dramatically weaker.
In the USA, for example, cattle similar to our R3 steers are making the equivalent of €3.53/kg, similar to the EU average. In Australia the average is the equivalent of €3.16/kg and in Uruguay the average price is actually well ahead of most EU countries at the equivalent of €3.94/kg.
Elsewhere in South America, there is a fall to an average of €2.74/kg equivalent in Argentina and then down to €2.24/kg equivalent in Brazil. (All prices supplied by EU Meat Market Observatory)
With the exception of Brazil and Argentina, EU prices have fallen close to the global level and farmers will be hoping that we are now close to the bottom if not actually there.
Uncertainty remains with Brexit scheduled for 31 October but the falls so far have made the EU a less attractive destination for non-EU exporters.
Read more
Brexit will cost farmers
Risk of no-deal Brexit rises as EU-UK stand-off deepens
The bad news continued this week for farmers taking cattle to the factory, with further price falls.
The mart trade isn’t as bad due to the combination of this being the quiet season for cattle sales and an abundance of grass in most parts of the country alongside good harvests of silage encouraging buyers.
Stabilisation in UK
Good news around the beef trade is scarce at the minute, so anything that suggests a hint of hope will be grabbed with both hands. The first positive is that there are signs of stability emerging in in Britain, with the average steer price up 0.4p/kg last week after several weeks of prices falling.
In the North, the R3 steer price was up 1.4p/kg and a healthier 6.6p/kg for R3 heifers, with young bulls up 4.5p/kg for the R3 grade (LMC prices). As reported in Beef Trends this week, there are also more enquiries about beef for next week.
All of this finds its way back to the farmer, with prices falling week on week in what are usually the best weeks of the year to sell cattle
Peak summer season isn’t when beef sales are ordinarily expected to surge, but 2019 has not been an ordinary year. Consumption of beef in the EU is back 2%, while 2018 was an exceptionally high year for beef imports and a poor year for exports.
On top of this, we had the build-up to what was supposed to be Brexit on 31 March, with stockpiling of supplies that were then released on to the market when Brexit didn’t happen. All of this finds its way back to the farmer, with prices falling week on week in what are usually the best weeks of the year to sell cattle.
EU less attractive market than a year ago
The picture for the first half of 2019 is somewhat different in that imports were down – the weak EU market was of less interest to South American exporters than the strong market in the first half of 2018 was.
Overall imports to the EU between January and May 2019 were 135,679t carcase weight equivalent (CWE) compared with 142,266t for the same period last year. On the other side, EU exports are ahead of 2018 levels for January to May at 304,619t CWE compared with 299,727t CWE for the same period in 2018. The one negative in the EU market is that the 1% drop in production is more than offset by the 2% drop in consumer demand.
Strong demand in Asia
Outside the EU it is a fairly robust beef market. Demand in China is continuing its upward trend, with imports of beef at 133,000t in June. This is a 61% increase on the same month last year according to Bloomberg.
Japan and South Korea, who had representatives visiting Ireland this week, are also showing year-on-year increases.
Global prices
Cattle prices outside the EU are still below our average but, with the exception of Brazil, are not dramatically weaker.
In the USA, for example, cattle similar to our R3 steers are making the equivalent of €3.53/kg, similar to the EU average. In Australia the average is the equivalent of €3.16/kg and in Uruguay the average price is actually well ahead of most EU countries at the equivalent of €3.94/kg.
Elsewhere in South America, there is a fall to an average of €2.74/kg equivalent in Argentina and then down to €2.24/kg equivalent in Brazil. (All prices supplied by EU Meat Market Observatory)
With the exception of Brazil and Argentina, EU prices have fallen close to the global level and farmers will be hoping that we are now close to the bottom if not actually there.
Uncertainty remains with Brexit scheduled for 31 October but the falls so far have made the EU a less attractive destination for non-EU exporters.
Read more
Brexit will cost farmers
Risk of no-deal Brexit rises as EU-UK stand-off deepens
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