There’s still no light at the end of the beef tunnel this week, as factories remain firmly stuck at €4.70/kg base price for bullocks on any purchases made for the first half of this week.

There were some rumblings about factories trying to get quotes to €4.65/kg this week, but this hasn’t materialised to any great extent. Factories still seem anxious for stock and with grass cattle generally slow to come out over the last three to four weeks, demand is still there, with some factories actually anxious for supplies this week.

Heifers are working off €4.75/kg in most locations, with a few larger feeders still able to push for €4.80/kg.

Regular customers and those working with larger numbers are also working off higher quotes. Some of these could be as high as 25c/kg extra when everything such as haulage and no weight limits are factored in.

Cow trade

P+3+ cows are being quoted at €3.80/kg to €3.90/kg this week.

R grading cows are being quoted from €4.20/kg to €4.25/kg, depending on the factory, while O grading cows are working off quotes of €4.10/kg to €4.20/kg.

U grading cows are being quoted at €4.30/kg to €4.40/kg this week.

Bulls

Base prices for under-16-month bulls are coming in at €4.70/kg to €4.75/kg.

Young under-24-month bull quotes are also under pressure, with U grading bulls now back at €4.90/kg to €4.95/kg.

R grading under-24-month bulls are being quoted at €4.75/kg to €4.80/kg, with O grading bulls back at €4.60/kg to €4.70/kg.

P grading under-24-month bulls are working off €4.40/kg to €4.50/kg this week.

Benchmark

The Bord Bia Irish composite price dropped by 10c/kg to €4.81/kg compared with the European benchmark price at €4.99/kg. After two weeks of relative stability, the European price dropped by 8c/kg last week.

According to Bord Bia, the most recent British retail data from Kantar Worldpanel, covering the 12-week period up to 11 June, shows a 2.7% reduction in beef purchases in volume terms.

The average retail price of beef had increased by 12.2% to £8.39 (€9.65) per kilo compared with 2022 prices for the same period, resulting in a 9.2% increase in shoppers' overall spending on beef.