With supply and demand finely balanced, there is no change to beef prices for another week. The majority of steers and heifers continue to trade on a base of €3.80/kg and €3.90/kg respectively. There are small numbers trading 2c/kg to 5c/kg above this, with greater opportunity to secure the higher base on heifers traded in significant numbers.

Some plants are also more active than others for traditional breeds.

Bull throughput continues to reduce, with specialised finishers handling a high percentage of bulls currently being traded.

Prices for U grade bulls range in general from a starting point of €3.80/kg for heavy carcase bulls (450kg-plus generally) to €3.90/kg and 5c/kg higher for those with strong producer-processor links. Some regular sellers operating outside of producer groups are also securing higher weight allowances, with those receiving higher bonus payments generally working to a tighter specification.

Firm cow trade

Plenty of life remains in the cow trade, both in marts and direct factory sales. Entry prices for P+3 grading cows for sellers offering small numbers range from €2.90/kg to €2.95/kg, rising to €3.05/kg and even €3.10/kg for deals involving considerable numbers.

P grades lacking flesh are selling 10c/kg to 25c/kg lower for fat class 2 and up to 40c/kg to 50c/kg lower for very poorly covered cows.

Fleshed O grading lots are selling from €3.15/kg to €3.25/kg and 5c/kg higher in plants active in the cow trade.

R grades are selling from €3.30/kg to €3.45/kg, with U grades rising to a top of €3.50/kg to €3.60/kg.

NI trade unchanged

Prices in Northern Ireland remain unchanged, with factories quoting anywhere from £3.38/kg to £3.46/kg. Despite the lower quotes, most cattle are trading from the average seller handling smaller numbers from £3.42/kg to £3.46/kg.

This equates to €4.14/kg to €4.19/kg at today’s exchange rate of 87p to the euro including 5.4% VAT.

Regular sellers with greater negotiating power are securing prices into the low £3.50s.

British prices have steadied after a few weeks of marginal but continuous decline. The AHDB reports R4L steers and heifers trading at an average of £3.60/kg (€4.36/kg).

They also report the cow trade strengthening by 2p/kg to 3p/kg to an average of £2.50/kg (€3.02/kg).

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