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The beef trade remains extremely lethargic and with little sign of an upturn in red meat sales, weak processing demand is filtering through to prime cattle prices.
Quotes on R grading steers are in the mid-330p/kg price range.
Quotes for heifers are closer to the 340p/kg mark.
Official price reports put R4L steers on an average price of 345.6p/kg last week.
Prices on R4L heifers averaged 347.9p/kg. However, these prices will be inflated by premiums on cattle killed through breed schemes.
Across all steers, prices were down 2p to an average of 339.9p/kg on 3,400 head. The average price paid on heifers was 344.5p/kg and was unchanged from the previous week.
Throughput has tightened, with just 2,073 heifers moving to Scottish abattoirs for processing. Prices on young bulls averaged 326p/kg, with U3 grading animals averaging 330.7p/kg.
Supplies are easing, with 1,106 bulls processed, compared with 1,200 head during the previous week.
Cull cows averaged 270.9p/kg for R3 grading animals, with R4L animals on 272.4p/kg.
Current prices are running well short of those paid for the same week in 2018. Last year, R4L steers were in excess of 380p/kg, with cull cows on 280p/kg.
Lambs
Increased supplies of new season lambs are coming on to the market and processors have reacted by cutting prices. Earlier this week, lambs were 400p/kg. However, by midweek they were closer to 390p/kg. In the live trade, lambs were down 10p/kg, around 180p to 185p/kg.
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