The beef price gap between Ireland and the UK continues to grow, with a current gap of just over €250/head on a 390kg carcase.

The latest price report from Bord Bia shows the average price of an R3 bullock slaughtered in Ireland is at €5.26/kg incl VAT compared with a UK price of €5.91/kg incl VAT. This is a gap of 65c/kg or €253/head.

The R3 young bull price comes in at €5.20/kg, which is 6c/kg behind the Irish bullock price.

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Bord Bia’s beef price tracker shows the Irish beef price lagging behind the export benchmark price by 10c/kg for the week ending 25 June 2023.

The change is a result of some tweaking of data by Bord Bia, which better reflects the grades of animals and the type of cuts being exported to the European market.

The Bord Bia price tracker had been showing the EU composite price 20c to 40c/kg ahead of the Irish price since the beginning of 2022, but this swung back to a 10c/kg differential last week, with the Irish price coming in at €4.97/kg incl VAT compared with the EU benchmark price of €5.07/kg incl VAT.

More cuts

Irish factories have moved to apply more cuts to quotes this week, with many processors applying a 5c/kg cut to both bullocks and heifers booked in for killing this week.

Factories appear to have the upper hand when it comes to quotes, with some signalling a further 5c/kg cut for next week.

Some agents are reporting a decline in available cattle coming for slaughter for the next few weeks, so it’s unclear as to whether they will get away with more cuts.

Bullocks are working off a base of €4.80/kg to €4.85/kg, while heifers are being quoted at €4.90/kg to €4.95/kg.

The cow trade is also very variable, with P+3+ cows being quoted at €3.80/kg to €3.85/kg this week. Flesh cover is important, with some factories applying severe cuts to under-fleshed light dairy cows.

R grading cows are being quoted from €4.20/kg to €4.30/kg, depending on the factory, while O grading cows are working off quotes of €4.10/kg to €4.20/kg.

U grading cows are at €4.40/kg to €4.50/kg this week.

There are some reports of factories shying away from lighter, poorly-fleshed cows or at least trying to buy them a lot less than covered cows.

Appetite remains firm for well-fleshed cows, with NI agents buying for wholesalers also very active in the last week on the hunt for well-fleshed heavy cows.

Bulls

Base prices for under-16-month bulls are coming in at €4.85/kg to €4.90/kg.

Young under-24-month bull quotes are also under pressure, with U grading bulls now back at €5.00/kg to €5.10/kg.

R grading under-24-month bulls are being quoted at €4.95/kg to €5.05/kg, with O grading bulls back at €4.80/kg to €4.90/kg.

P grading under-24-month bulls are working off €4.70/kg to €4.80/kg this week.

There’s an increasing number of bull finishers finding it difficult to market bulls in the last three or four weeks, with some factories that have had no problems processing bulls in the past suddenly having an issue with taking bulls.

Numbers of live cattle continue to move north for direct slaughter, with 479 exported last week, a 200 head increase on the same week in 2022.

Northern Ireland

The July holidays in Northern Ireland means all processors are working on a short kill week and prices are under pressure as a result.

Base quotes are back 2p/kg to 460p/kg (€5.63/kg inc VAT) for U-3 grading animals, although most deals for in-spec steers and heifers run from 472p to 478p/kg (€5.78 to €5.85/kg), with young bulls opening on 466p/kg (€5.71/kg).

Cows are back 10p/kg, with quotes for R3 animals on 366p/kg (€4.49/kg).