A short week always plays into factories’ hands when supplies are tight.

The four-day week has meant factories have been able to secure enough cattle without increasing quotes.

Some factories are trying their hand at talking things down but looking at supply and demand there is no basis for any change in prices in the short term.

The general run of quotes this week remain at €5.25/kg for bullocks and €5.35/kg for heifers.

Donegal is 10c/kg ahead of these quotes for bullocks and 5c/kg ahead for heifers killing out between 300kg and 400kg.

Flat prices of as high as €5.80/kg to €5.90/kg are being paid for mixes of Aberdeen Angus and Hereford cattle.

Bulls in demand

Bulls are still in big demand, with several factories and smaller wholesalers competing hard for bull supply.

Under-16-month bulls are generally trading around €5.30-€5.40/kg. U grading bulls are now up at €5.60-€5.70/kg in a couple of factories.

There are also flat deals of €5.70-€5.80/kg going in some smaller factories for under-16-month bulls with no weight limits.

Under-24-month R grading bulls are working off €5.30-€5.40/kg, depending on flesh cover. Deals are being done at €5.50/kg for mixes of Rs and Us.

Cow prices

U grading cows are being quoted at €5.20/kg to €5.30/kg, with those with high numbers of good cows able to squeeze a little more out of the market.

Wholesalers are the best payers at the moment, with some giving 10-20c/kg more for top end cows compared to some of the mainstream factories.

R grading cows are trading for as high as €5.00/kg to €5.10/kg, with good O grading cows coming in at €4.80/kg to €4.90/kg.

Well-fleshed P+3 cows are being quoted at €4.75/kg, but flat deals are available to those with higher numbers.

Factory agents are regularly paying in excess of €3.30/kg for heavy well-fleshed cows in marts, which is in excess of €5.80/kg beef price. The mart is still the place to go with small numbers of cows.

British trade

Across the water the beef trade remains positive, with cows seeing a 3p/kg increase for the last week of May ahead of a busy bank holiday weekend in the UK.

Around Europe, demand is still very good with no real change across the main markets for Irish beef.

Irish Farmers Journal markets specialist Phelim O’Neill took a look at the global beef trade in this weekend’s industry insight.