Beef quotes have steadied this week. Factories had signalled further price pulls at the end of last week but this hasn’t materialised this week. Heifers continue to work off €4.20/kg to €4.25/kg, while bullocks are moving at €4.15/kg to €4.20/kg.

Cows continue to be sought after with €3.90/kg still available for good R-grading cows.

Covid-19 issues in some factories continue to affect throughput in some locations with some boning halls under particular pressure due to Covid-19 outbreaks. The UK market continues to improve with British prices for R4L steers hitting 421p/kg (€5.23/kg including VAT) this week.

So far in 2021, there have been 72,496 less cattle killed compared with the same period in 2020.

Bord Bia estimates that there will be 40,000 less cattle to kill between September and December 2021 compared to 2020. This should help to tip the supply-demand balance in farmers’ favour for the back end of the year.