Factory ambitions to break the €4/kg line in the sand seem to have been resisted for now at least. Hopes are that the weather is to improve over the weekend and pressure will ease on farmers to get cattle away. Few factories and agents succeeded in getting large supplies at €4/kg this week for steers, despite strong efforts to do so, with many sellers managing to get a base of €4.05/kg.

For heifers, it was the normal 10c/kg difference, with factories trying at €4.10/kg, but finishing up paying €4.15/kg in most cases. As always, there are some people managing to squeeze even more out of the market, with one report of a factory not normally associated with buying heifers paying as high as €4.20/kg. All indications are that it will be a similar story for next week.

With small numbers of young bulls in the system (1,744 killed last week), prices are generally €4.05/kg on the grid for under 16 months provided there is a 2+ fat score. For bulls over 16 months, there aren’t many about and those that are are usually for specialist jobs and trading at €4.15/kg for U and R grades.

IFA National Livestock Committee chairman Henry Burns said agents are finding it difficult to get numbers of cattle this week, which indicates that numbers of prime cattle are tightening. He said this is in line with the AIMS data pointing to much tighter supplies of steers and heifers for the second half of 2015. On top of this, schools are reopening in England, which usually marks the end of the difficult summer selling period for some cuts of beef.

The numbers seem to suggest that the supply is in line with factory needs at present. The kill was 29,660 last week, well below the 32,434 in the same week last year. Something really worth watching is currency movement which has a major impact on sales to the UK. The euro has been trading at values around 70-71 pence for several months, but this week that has jumped to 73p.

Cow trade: It has been a steady trade for cows this week, with a similar picture forecast to continue next week. O grading cows were getting €3.60/kg in most places, with P grades making the same in some places, while others cut Ps by 10c/kg to €3.70/kg. Top-quality continental-bred R grading cows were easily commanding €3.80/kg.

NI: The NI kill of 7,031 last week was the lowest since the end of June, apart from the short week following the two bank holidays around 12 July. Tightening cattle supply is reflected in cattle quotes moving to £3.24 to £3.26/kg (€4.66 to €4.68/kg including VAT) with up to £3.30 (€4.75/kg including VAT). NI exported 365 animals south last week for direct slaughter, made up mainly of cows which are being culled at the earliest opportunity by under-pressure dairy farmers, while 423 cattle were imported by NI factories from the south for slaughter, which was 100 up on the previous week.

Britain: Prices steadied after a few weeks of pressure, with £3.56/kg the average paid last week on R4L steers and £3.54/kg on heifers (€5.12 and €5.09/kg respectively). There is a wide variance in this average from £3.69/kg in Scotland to £3.43/kg in the south of England on steers (€5.30 and €4.93/kg respectively); heifers are similar.