Irish cattle prices continue to lumber along, with the R3 steer at €3.56/kg for the week ending 19 November 5% lower than a year ago when the price was €3.80/kg, resulting in us having the worst price of our main trading partners.
With sterling having weakened to below 85p/€1, within the “normal” 75p to 85p range, we might have expected to see some of the value from the UK market reflected back to Irish prices.
Young bulls are trading at the exact same price on R3 steers, and if we were to compare O3 grades, young bulls are in fact 5c/kg more than the equivalent steer at €3.43/kg compared with €3.38/kg for O3 steers
British prices for the R3 steer were the equivalent of €4.16/kg when converted to euro, while prices in Northern Ireland were the equivalent of €4.04/kg, a noticeable closing of the gap between Northern Ireland (NI) and Britain prices as highlighted in this week’s LMC bulletin. In sterling, the NI average steer price is £3.51/kg, while the British steer price is £3.61/kg, in both cases a fraction of a penny higher. The general belief in Britain, and to a lesser extent in NI, is that the trade has peaked.
The continent
On the continent, trade in Germany and Italy has surged well ahead of Ireland, and though France may be on par with us for steer prices, they kill predominantly young bulls which are 6c/kg ahead of our steer price.
Sweden, a growing market destination for Irish beef exports, and which is outside the eurozone, remains strong, with R3 steers there €4.19/kg.
Moving to France, our main export market after the UK, prices were the equivalent of €3.53/kg on steers but €3.62/kg for young bulls, which are more common in France than steers. Italy reported €3.86/kg on R3 young bulls last week, while Germany was on €3.80/kg for R3 young bulls.
The Netherlands's price continues weak on €3.14/kg while Spain is on €3.70/kg, 14 c/kg ahead of Ireland. This compares with being 36c/kg behind Ireland back in June.
Irish R3 steer price compared with others.
Globally
Among the top three exporters in the world, Australia, driven by scarcity of supply, continues to set the pace at €3.74/kg equivalent to the EU R3 grade, 18c/kg ahead of Ireland. The US is reporting the equivalent of €3.55/kg, the improvement of recent weeks reflecting the weakening of the dollar against the euro as much as the market. Brazil is trading at the equivalent of €2.55/kg.
Irish factories have demonstrated this autumn a serious inability to handle a modest increase in cattle supply without collapsing the price, which hasn’t happened elsewhere in the countries that are our main trading partners for beef.
They published ambitious development plans for each of the sectors this year to deliver Food Wise 2025 which were excellent in so far as they went, but failed to mention how they would deliver a sustainable price to farmers.
Factories bemoan the coverage the tiny live export industry from Ireland attracts. However, the price collapse in the second half of this year, unique to Ireland among our beef trading partners, suggests we don’t have any other way of handling the extra numbers coming into the system.
Read more
Beef prices: heifers maintain weekly kill
Irish cattle prices continue to lumber along, with the R3 steer at €3.56/kg for the week ending 19 November 5% lower than a year ago when the price was €3.80/kg, resulting in us having the worst price of our main trading partners.
With sterling having weakened to below 85p/€1, within the “normal” 75p to 85p range, we might have expected to see some of the value from the UK market reflected back to Irish prices.
Young bulls are trading at the exact same price on R3 steers, and if we were to compare O3 grades, young bulls are in fact 5c/kg more than the equivalent steer at €3.43/kg compared with €3.38/kg for O3 steers
British prices for the R3 steer were the equivalent of €4.16/kg when converted to euro, while prices in Northern Ireland were the equivalent of €4.04/kg, a noticeable closing of the gap between Northern Ireland (NI) and Britain prices as highlighted in this week’s LMC bulletin. In sterling, the NI average steer price is £3.51/kg, while the British steer price is £3.61/kg, in both cases a fraction of a penny higher. The general belief in Britain, and to a lesser extent in NI, is that the trade has peaked.
The continent
On the continent, trade in Germany and Italy has surged well ahead of Ireland, and though France may be on par with us for steer prices, they kill predominantly young bulls which are 6c/kg ahead of our steer price.
Sweden, a growing market destination for Irish beef exports, and which is outside the eurozone, remains strong, with R3 steers there €4.19/kg.
Moving to France, our main export market after the UK, prices were the equivalent of €3.53/kg on steers but €3.62/kg for young bulls, which are more common in France than steers. Italy reported €3.86/kg on R3 young bulls last week, while Germany was on €3.80/kg for R3 young bulls.
The Netherlands's price continues weak on €3.14/kg while Spain is on €3.70/kg, 14 c/kg ahead of Ireland. This compares with being 36c/kg behind Ireland back in June.
Irish R3 steer price compared with others.
Globally
Among the top three exporters in the world, Australia, driven by scarcity of supply, continues to set the pace at €3.74/kg equivalent to the EU R3 grade, 18c/kg ahead of Ireland. The US is reporting the equivalent of €3.55/kg, the improvement of recent weeks reflecting the weakening of the dollar against the euro as much as the market. Brazil is trading at the equivalent of €2.55/kg.
Irish factories have demonstrated this autumn a serious inability to handle a modest increase in cattle supply without collapsing the price, which hasn’t happened elsewhere in the countries that are our main trading partners for beef.
They published ambitious development plans for each of the sectors this year to deliver Food Wise 2025 which were excellent in so far as they went, but failed to mention how they would deliver a sustainable price to farmers.
Factories bemoan the coverage the tiny live export industry from Ireland attracts. However, the price collapse in the second half of this year, unique to Ireland among our beef trading partners, suggests we don’t have any other way of handling the extra numbers coming into the system.
Read more
Beef prices: heifers maintain weekly kill
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