Beef processing will resume on Tuesday, picking up where it finished last week. For producers under pressure to move stock, the last thing they will have wanted to see this week is a day’s less processing.

In a normal year with steady factory appetite for stock, a day’s less processing would not have a major influence on the trade. This is as factories generally have capacity over the other four days to increase daily activity and lessen the effect of the missed day's kill.

However, with many plants operating below full capacity and showing little appetite to increase numbers despite an abundance of stock in the marketplace, it will add to an already significant backlog.

Factory focus

The focus in most plants remains on the stock factories desire most – steers and heifers under 30 months of age. This is likely to remain the case in the coming weeks as factories start to fill orders for the Christmas trade and also look to capitalise on more plants being approved to supply beef to China.

For now, producers are resigned to a sluggish trade. Steers are trading in the main on a base of €3.45/kg. The majority of heifers are trading on a base of €3.50/kg while some plants continue to offer a lower base of €3.45/kg. Their cause is helped by supplies being in their favour. Liffey Meats continues to purchase on a base of €3.50/kg for steers and €3.60/kg for heifers with this agreement reported as lasting until Friday 1 November.

Cows and young bulls

The cow and young bull trade is also unchanged. Cows are trading in the main on an average price of €2.60/kg to €2.70/kg for P+3 grades with a couple of plants paying higher. There is a wider differential for O grades. A high percentage fall with a price range of €2.80/kg to €2.90/kg but 5c/kg higher is being paid in select cases.

R grading cows average €3.00/kg to €3.05/kg in the main while U grades range from €3.10/kg to €3.20/kg. Again there are small numbers exceeding this range in plants most active in the cow trade.

Young bulls, meanwhile, average €3.40/kg to €3.45/kg for R grades and €3.50/kg to €3.55/kg for U grades. More plants are clamping down on the carcase weight they are willing to pay to before deductions on weight are introduced. Therefore it is advisable to clarify this when booking in animals. The same can be said for poorer quality cows with deductions of up to 80c/kg to €1/kg for poor quality light carcase cows coming straight from the parlour.

Record throughput

Throughput in Northern Ireland remains at a 10-year high. There are some small signals numbers could be starting to tighten but agents report there is not likely to be a significant fall off for a few more weeks. Prices are unchanged at a U-3 steer and heifer base quote ranging from £3.12/kg to £3.20/kg.

After its recent strengthening, sterling is trading on Monday morning at 86.5p to the euro. This leaves the base price equating to €3.61/kg to €3.70/kg and €3.80/kg to €3.90/kg including VAT at 5.4%.

While a number of continental European markets have recorded improved market performance in recent weeks, the British trade remains under pressure. The latest AHDB price report shows prices easing by an average of 1p/kg. This leaves R4L steers trading at £3.35/kg (€3.87/kg or €4.08/kg VAT inclusive) with heifers 2p/kg lower. It is unlikely that the decision by the EU to grant the UK a Brexit extension until 31 January 2020 will lift stagnant consumption and deliver a well needed boost to beef market performance.