Steers and heifers are generally moving off a base of €3.60/kg to €3.65/kg. I have heard of some larger finishers squeezing €3.70/kg for heifers, but this was where large numbers were being dealt with and is in exceptional cases.

Most processors are holding tight to €3.60/kg and appetite is varied, with some talking of weight limits being applied again, something which hasn’t cropped up for the last few months.

Young bulls are trading at €3.55/kg to €3.60/kg base on the QPS grid. Older bulls are working off €3.50/kg to €3.55/kg for R grading bulls and €3.60/kg to €3.65/kg for U grading bulls. Heavy stock bulls are generally trading at €2.40/kg to €2.60/kg. Factories are still very hungry for cows, reflecting a very good trade for manufacturing beef.

Quotes for P grading cows are coming in at €2.90/kg to €3.00/kg, O grading cows are trading at €3.00/kg to €3.10/kg and R grading cows at €3.15/kg to €3.25/kg depending on numbers and quality. There’s 0.10c/kg higher than this available where numbers are involved.

Good-quality cows are still a very good trade in marts, with good northern demand for suitable cows. There is also a very good mart trade for cattle close to finish. Factory feedlot agents are still very active in the marts for these lots, especially for the traditional breeds.

Kill figures

Last week’s kill rose by 656 head to 35,034. Much of this rise came from cows, with 800 extra slaughtered last week compared with the previous week. With all the talk of disruption in three factories, the kill still rose demonstrating the extra capacity in other locations if the demand is there to kill them.

International markets

Looking at international markets, the Irish price has stagnated in comparison to both EU and UK markets. UK beef price for R4L steers last week was £3.86/kg (€4.62/kg). It begs the question as to how Irish prices could be coming under pressure in the last two weeks.

Further afield, China is also surging ahead, with beef imports up 40% on last year and exceeding 1m tonnes of beef imported in the first half of 2020.

While much of this growth has came from South American imports, these figures further emphasise the importance of regaining access to the Chinese market.

NI exports

While the numbers of cattle exported to NI for direct slaughter dropped to 402 head last week, down from 650 head the week before, numbers being bought in marts for further feeding north of the border continue to move strongly. There were 3,397 cattle bought by NI customers in August (850 weekly). This is up from 724 head (183 head/weekly) for August 2019.

The last four months of the year have always been the busiest for NI live exports in recent years and, speaking to mart managers, 2020 will be no different, with confidence high in the NI finishing sector.

NI beef trade

Beef prices have eased in Northern Ireland as supplies of factory-fit stock increase, although quotes on U-3 grading animals are holding at 360p/kg (€4.31/kg inc VAT).

Farmers offloading cattle on a regular kill schedule report prices of 370p to 372p/kg (€4.43/kg to €4.45/kg) for U grading animals, whereas farmers with limited numbers are offloading at 362p to 366p/kg (€4.33 to €4.38/kg). Cows are also a slower trade, with the best quote on R3 grading animals on 275p/kg (€3.29/kg).