It’s a story of steady as you go for Monday’s beef quotes around the country.

In-spec steers and heifers continue on a base of €3.40/kg, with very little movement away from this.

Heavy carcases continue to remain under pressure and there is little appetite for carcases over 420kg. The only exception to this is where there are only one or two animals in a batch that are overweight and also depends on the producer-processor relationship.

Quotes

R and U grade bulls are generally trading from €3.30/kg to €3.40/kg, depending on location. Some specialist finishers with numbers have been able to secure quotes 5c/kg higher.

Young bulls are generally trading on a similar base to steers and heifers on the QPS grid with a lower QPS bonus of 12c/kg compared with 20c/kg for steers and heifers.

The young bull kill for the week ending 6 April was down 2,140 bulls on the corresponding week in 2019, with 22,740 less young bulls killed in 2020 compared with 2019 numbers.

P+3 grading cows continue to trade around the €2.35/kg to €2.45/kg mark.

Chinese appetite

O grades are trading in the main from €2.50/kg to €2.60/kg, with better-quality R and U grading cows hitting as high as €2.90/kg at the top end of the market.

Industry sources indicate that there is increased appetite from China, with some factories anxious that Chinese requirements are met for cattle being slaughtered on specific days.