The beef trade has turned with tighter numbers forcing agents to increase beef quotes this week.

Heifers have moved to a €6.40/kg base price in a number of locations with bullocks also increasing by 10c/kg in some processors this week.

There are still bullocks being purchased at €6.20/kg and heifers being bought at €6.30/kg, but more is now available when pressure is applied with all processors expected to move up by 10c/kg next week.

Good weather this week has meant that marts have been very small, with a lot of smaller finishers concentrating on getting farm work completed as opposed to selling cattle.

Despite the small numbers, factory agents active both ringside and online for the few cattle that are turning up to marts with some of the prices being paid for finished cattle requiring a price north of €7/kg in order for these cattle to breakeven.

Breed bonuses of between 5c and 20c/kg are available for in-spec Hereford and Aberdeen Angus cattle. Flat prices are also a little easier to come by, with as high as €6.90/kg paid this week for in-spec Aberdeen Angus heifers.

At the moment, it’s a case of pushing hard when it comes to quotes, with certain agents having leeway to up quotes when pressure is applied.

Cows

R grading cows are being priced around €6.00/kg to €6.10/kg, with more going to those with numbers.

U grading cows are now being bought at €6.10/kg to €6.20/kg, with higher prices going to regular cow sellers and specialist feeders.

O grading cows are being bought for around €5.90/kg. P+3 cows are coming in at €5.60/kg to €5.80/kg, with some factories continuing to quote lower for very light cows.

Some of the specialist cow producers have been able to squeeze a €6/kg flat price for mixes of O and P grading dairy cows this week.

Cows have seen the biggest lift in demand in the last two weeks, with a boost in manufacturing beef fuelling the increase in demand for cows.

This has seen the return of a number of smaller factories specialising in wholesale meat around cow rings in marts hoovering up any slaughter-fit cows and paying over €4/kg liveweight in some cases.

Bulls

R grading bulls are coming in at €6.30/kg to €6.50/kg, with U grading bulls being quoted at €6.40/kg to €6.50/kg, depending on numbers and type.

O grading bulls are working off an all-in price of €6.10/kg to €6.30/kg, while P grading bulls are being quoted at €6.00/kg to €6.20/kg, depending on weight and flesh cover.

Over-age bulls are generally working off a price of €6.00/kg to €6.20/kg, depending on grades and flesh cover.

Under-16-month bulls are working off a €6.20/kg to €6.30/kg base price on the grid.

Last week’s kill saw a huge reduction in the number of animals being processed, with a drop of 2,800 head. One of the biggest drops came in the heifer category with a drop of close to 1,200 head.

Last week’s drop was the fifth week in a row that numbers of finished cattle available for slaughter has tightened with the kill dropping from 31,380 head in mid-May to 27,150 last week, down 4,230 in five weeks.

Coupled with a reduced supply there has always been an uplift in demand, especially in the UK market.

The latest Kantar World Panel data for the four weeks up to 14 June saw a 40% increase in fresh beef burger sales.

This is being put down to the heatwave that the UK had in May, with a further lift in sales also being seen in the current period of weather.

Some stability has also entered the UK trade, with R4L bullocks and heifers around 593p/kg (€7.28/kg), a gap of close 90c/kg between the two markets.