Beef producers are facing renewed pressure on prices negotiated, with factories stepping up their efforts in recent days to reduce prices by 5c/kg. Most plants are now quoting a base price of €4.10/kg for steers and €4.20/kg for heifers. There are cattle moving at a 5c/kg higher base, but securing this quote is becoming progressively harder to achieve.

Factories are trying a similar approach with bulls. Negotiations over the weekend and today have seen buyers move to reduce the base price paid to €4.10/kg, with some plants quoting even lower. Again, small numbers are moving at a higher base, but deals are swiftly reducing in frequency.

The majority of plants have also tightened up on carcase weights, with most trying to implement an upper weight limit of 400kg to 420kg. Animals exceeding this weight are, in cases, being paid on a flat-rate basis, but this depends on the deal in question, with numbers of cattle traded and percentage exceeding the weight limit having an influence. It is also important to check the consequences of bulls falling below the desired fat score of 2+.

Bulls

Bulls aged over 16 months and trading off the grid are moving from €4.05/kg to €4.10/kg for R grades and €4.10/kg to €4.15/kg for U grades, while, at the top end of the market, there are small numbers of R and U grades trading at €4.10/kg and €4.20/kg respectively. Carcase weight is less of an issue with bulls over 16 months of age.

Cows

The cow trade is variable, with plants continuing to have variable success in pulling prices. Moves were made last week to reduce quotes to €3.40/kg and €3.50/kg for P+3 and fleshed O grading cows. Plants have had some success in reducing prices to this level for deals involving small numbers, but regular sellers handling large numbers continue to secure 5c/kg to 10c/kg higher. R grades are trading anywhere from €3.60/kg to €3.75/kg with U grades up to 10c/kg higher.

Northern trade

Some northern plants are singing off the same hymn sheet as the south and are trying to enforce 2p/kg to 4p/kg cuts to the base price. However, numbers are still relatively tight and most sellers continue to secure a U-3 base quote for steers and heifers of £3.64/kg to £3.68/kg. This is the equivalent of €4.16/kg to €4.20/kg at 87.6p to the euro and €4.38/kg to €4.43/kg including VAT at 5.4%. Regular sellers continue to secure prices into the low to mid £3.70s, while fleshed O grading cows are steady at an average price of £2.80/kg to £3.00/kg (€3.37/kg to €3.61/kg including VAT).

Live calf exports

The latest Department of Agriculture records show 3,693 calves exported in the week ending 10 June 2018. The reduction can be partly attributed to the bank holiday falling that week, but is more so stemming from a seasonal decline in availability of calves.

Spain remains the primary market, accounting for 2,421 calves, followed by 714 to the Netherlands, 497 to Italy and 61 to Northern Ireland. There were no exports for the week to Belgium or France.

While exports declined significantly, they continue to run well ahead of 2017 levels with 1,447 calves exported in the corresponding week. This has ensured the gap in exports between 2017 and 2018 continues to grow, with 137,293 calves exported so far in 2018, a sharp rise of 41,854 head on 2017 levels.