Last week’s beef kill of 31,983 head was just three lower than the week previous, despite steer and heifer throughput falling by 931 head.

Steer throughput reduced by 656 head to 10,581, while heifer throughput fell 434 to 7,979 head. The reduction was cancelled out by young bull throughput increasing 656 head to reach 4,925, while there were 456 more cows (7,869) processed.

Tighter supplies of steers and heifers put sellers in a better position in recent days and has steadied the trade, with price cuts limited to 5c/kg.

A high percentage of steers are trading on a base of €4.15/kg, with heifers moving on a base of €4.25/kg.

There are few exceptions outside this price range for those trading at the top end of the market.

An increase in young bull throughput is stemming from more bulls in an under-16 month finishing system coming on stream.

The base price offered ranges from €4.10/kg to €4.15/kg, with regular sellers securing the higher quotes.

Producers should be mindful of carcase weight price limitations, with some plants imposing the lower quotes or trying to implement price reductions where bulls exceed 420kg to 430kg carcase weight, while a select number of plants are trying to limit higher prices to carcases weighing less than 400kg.

Fat cover is the other big concern, with bulls typically requiring a fat cover of 2+ or better to be paid on the grid.

Bulls aged over 16 months and less than 24 months are trading from €4.10/kg to €4.15/kg for R grades and €4.20/kg to €4.25/kg for U grades, with the higher prices requiring greater negotiating power to secure.

Cows have faced the greatest price pressure of all classes of stock, with factories trying to introduce further cuts of 5c/kg to 10c/kg since the end of last week.

This leaves P+3 grading cows on an average quote of €3.40/kg, with O grades 10c/kg higher at €3.50/kg and R grades starting at €3.60/kg.

While plants have managed, in cases, to reduce prices paid for small numbers, they have not had the same luck in getting prices down across the board, with negotiations with regular sellers more challenging.

Factories’ appetite remains strong despite their attempts to reduce prices, with P+3 grading cows rising to €3.45/kg to €3.50/kg, while O grades are still capable of rising to €3.60/kg.

The same can be said for R and U grades, with top prices of €3.70/kg to €3.85/kg paid for heavy well-fleshed cows.

Northern trade

Some northern plants are also trying to test producers’ resolve with talk of prices coming under pressure and 2p/kg to 4p/kg lower quotes. Appetite still remains strong, with base U-3 quotes opening at £3.64/kg to £3.68/kg or the equivalent of €4.14/kg to €4.18/kg at 88p to the euro and €4.39/kg to €4.41/kg including VAT at 5.4%.

Regular sellers continue to push prices received into the low- to mid-£3.70s, while there have also been deals involving large numbers of heifers reported in the high-£3.70s.

British prices are solid, with the AHDB reporting R4L steer prices at £3.80/kg (€4.55/kg incl VAT), while heifers averaged 2p/kg higher. R3 grading young bulls are unchanged at an average of £3.66/kg (€4.38/kg incl VAT), while O grading cows range from £2.85/kg to £3.00/kg (€3.41/kg to €3.59/kg).

European prices lag behind, with Bord Bia reporting French R3 grading young bulls at €3.71/kg excluding VAT, Italian R3 bulls at €3.72/kg and German young bulls at €3.82/kg.