The mood among beef finishers was dealt another blow this week with any fading hope of an end-of-season price rise crushed. Base prices for steers and heifers have fallen by a further 5c/kg, with steers trading at €3.85/kg and heifers at €3.90/kg.

There are still cattle receiving a higher base of €3.90/kg for steers and €3.95/kg for heifers, but the majority of these cattle were purchased last week and carried over until this week’s kill.

Likewise, there are a small number of plants that are trying to purchase cattle for today (Thursday) at a lower base of €3.80/kg for steers and €3.85/kg for heifers.

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Flat-priced deals for Friesian steers range from €3.60/kg to €3.70/kg for quality assured (QA) O=/O+ lots less than 30 months of age.

Those exceeding 30 months of age are, in cases, facing penalties of 10c/kg to 15c/kg on this price range.

Butcher and wholesale heifers are selling in general from €3.80/kg to €3.90/kg for O=/+/R- grading lots.

Angus and Hereford lots continue to command a 5c to 10c/kg price premium, although some delays are reported in getting cattle eligible for bonus payments with producer groups booked into plants.

Elevated throughput: High throughput and a backlog in getting cattle killed continue to be big features of the trade.

Last week’s kill totalled 32,038, a fall of just fewer than 800 on the previous week but an increase of 5,223 on last year’s levels.

The heifer and steer kills have fallen by about 1,000 head each, but a large part of this reduction has been compensated for by the young bull kill rising 872 head to 5,391 and the cow kill rising 546 head to 8,004.

A rising young bull kill was not anticipated at this stage of the year with the increase resulting from a significant lift in the numbers of bulls finished under 16 months of age coming onto the market (1,523 more bulls killed compared with the same week in 2013).

The increase has also put pressure on price and the flow of bulls into plants.

Plants willing to put bulls less than 16 months on the grid are paying a base of €3.80/kg.

This does not include the 12c/kg QPS in-spec bonus. The same rules apply in regards a minimum fat cover of 2+.

Bulls aged over 16 months of age are moving in general from €3.50/kg to €3.55/kg for R grade bulls and €3.60/kg to €3.65/kg for U grade bulls.

Friesian bulls are selling from €3.20/kg to €3.30/kg for O=/+ grading bulls, with O- grading bulls or those lacking flesh selling back to €3.00/kg.

Rising cow kill: The yearly kill is now running 83,000 head above last year’s levels. A strong cow kill, bolstered by seasonal throughput of cull dairy cows, is likely to add to throughput in the coming weeks.

Prices have eased in line with prime cattle with O grade Friesian cows trading from €2.95/kg to €3.05/kg, while continental O grade cows are selling to €3.15/kg.

P+3 grade Friesians are selling from €2.80/kg to €2.90/kg, with few issues reported on cows with fat cover.

R grade cows are selling from €3.20 to €3.30/kg, with U grade cows selling to €3.50/kg.

NI and GB trade: Average prices in Great Britain have fallen 4p (5c/kg) in the week with Eblex reporting the average prime cattle price at £3.34/kg (equivalent €4.30/kg).

In England, steer and heifer prices for R4L cattle range from £3.20 to £3.30/kg or the equivalent of €4.13/kg to €4.26/kg, including VAT.

In Northern Ireland, prices have eased this week by 4p to 6p/kg (5c to 7c/kg) to a base of £3.20/kg for a U3 carcase or a base of €4.13/kg, including VAT.

Quotes for R and U grade cows range from £2.50/kg to £2.60/kg or the equivalent of €3.23/kg to €3.36/kg, including VAT. Italian beef prices have also weakened by 10c/kg in the last two weeks with an Irish R grade steer and an Italian R grade bull now selling for a similar price.