Reports indicate that agents have been calling finishers who would normally have cattle coming on stream at this time of year in a bid to try to entice numbers forward.

They have also been contacting producers who have cattle booked in for slaughter to rearrange and pull numbers forward. This is just about satisfying increased demand and is only serving to push the problem further down the line.

Agents have increased quotes to try to encourage producers to sell, with steers moving in general at a base of €3.65/kg to €3.70/kg.

There are very few heifers moving below a base of €3.70/kg and an increasing number of sellers are securing a base of €3.75/kg and pushing for returns of €3.80/kg.

While there is more confidence in the market, agents report that producers are slow to sell, with prices running just 5c/kg above 2019 levels.

Producers are happy to leave cattle sit there until age limits become a factor rather than trying to enter the market to replace them.

Throughput

Last week’s throughput fell 1,395 head to 35,738.

Young bull throughput has halved, with factories unable to call on specialist finishers to supplement throughput, while it is also reducing the volume of meat entering the market.

Reduced availability from specialist finishers is also reflected in the number of cattle coming on stream from controlled finishing units.

June 2020 figures are not yet available, but the number of cattle supplied by controlled finishing units reduced by 8,500 to 22,500 in May and from 29,000 in April 2019 to 20,000 in April 2020.

Bull prices are steady, with R and U grades trading in the main for €3.70/kg and €3.60/kg respectively. There is less notice being taken of carcase weights, with many plants happy to get the opportunity for increased volumes.

O grading bulls are trading on average from €3.45/kg to €3.50/kg, but higher is being secured where bulls are traded in mixed batches of R and U grade bulls or in significant numbers.

The cow trade continues to be helped by competition from northern buyers, with a couple of marts also reporting activity from new Northern Irish and Scottish buyers in recent days.

Prices are variable and influenced heavily by selling power. P grades are starting at €2.90/kg and rising to €3.00/kg, while O grading cows are trading from €3.00/kg to €3.15/kg on average.

R grades are in the region of €3.20/kg to €3.30/kg, but it is clear agents handling significant numbers are securing higher such is their strength in purchasing in mart sales.

Price comparison

The latest data sourced by the EU Commission and reported through Bord Bia’s meat market dashboards shows Irish R3 prime male cattle averaging €3.62/kg (exclusive or VAT).

This is 14c/kg above the average EU price for R grading bulls and follows recent seasonal trends, but prices continue to lag well behind the average UK price reported of €4.04/kg.

The Irish price for the corresponding period in 2019 of €3.66/kg was 16c/kg higher than the EU average, while 12 months earlier the Irish price of €3.95/kg was some 23c/kg higher.

Looking at the Irish-UK differential for the same period shows that the gap had fallen to just 4c/kg at the start of July 2019, while a year earlier the UK price was 28c/kg higher.