This is a subscriber-only article
The beef trade continues to have difficulty in achieving upward movement in prices. Demand from factory agents has stepped up another notch in recent days, but buyers are struggling to entice numbers forward in the absence of a price rise.
There are reports of 2c/kg to 5c/kg extra being paid in cases for heifers, with the general base still at €3.60/kg.
However, a rising percentage of heifers traded by regular sellers are securing a base of €3.65/kg for deals completed this week.
In rare cases, a base of €3.68/kg to €3.70/kg is being secured by specialist finishers or for large batches of heifers. Steers are finding it more challenging to rise above a base of €3.60/kg.
Price index
The latest Bord Bia price index for the first week of January shows Irish prices continuing to compare badly against current EU and UK prices and Irish prices recorded in recent years.
The average Irish R3 steer price reported was €3.55/kg, which is running 12c/kg behind the average EU price and 35c/kg behind the average UK price. The Irish steer price is running 9c/kg behind the comparable period in 2018 and 35c/kg behind the corresponding week in 2017.
Solid cow trade
The strength in demand is very evident in the mart cow trade, with factory agents competing with greater intensity in recent days.
P+3 and O grading cows are slowly increasing in price, but a wide differential remains, depending on the negotiating power of the seller. P+3 grading cows are trading on average from €2.70/kg to €2.75/kg, but 5c/kg to 10c/kg higher is being secured.
O grading cows are trading from €2.85/kg to €3.00/kg. R grades are slowly moving upwards, but not at a pace that reflects the live trade, with prices ranging from €3.05/kg to €3.15/kg on average.
Live calf exports
Meanwhile, the latest Department of Agriculture figures for the week ending 19 January show 2020 calf exports to Spain starting strongly. There were 402 dairy-sired calves exported last week and 25 beef-sired calves. This is over twice the levels recorded for the corresponding week in 2018.
It brings the total number of calves exported to Spain for the first three weeks of the year to 669 dairy-sired calves (531 aged zero to six weeks and 138 aged six weeks to six months). There were 108 beef-sired calves exported (83 zero to six weeks and 25 six weeks to six months).
SHARING OPTIONS: