The liveweight lamb price rose 10p/kg to £1.94/kg for medium-weight lambs. Average prices around the marts had a low of £1.83/kg in Huntly to £2.08/kg in St Boswells. Heavier lambs rose 2p/kg on the week to £1.73/kg liveweight. Numbers fell by over 1,500 head to 1,851 traded in marts. The deadweight market reports the price of R3L lambs was stand on for the week at £4.19/kg across the UK. Cast ewes through the ring were down by over 1,500 head to 4,724 as the average was up £5/head to £59/head.

The beef market continued its tumble as prices fell another 5p/kg to £3.53/kg for an R4L steer, according to the AHDB’s official report. Same-grade heifers are worth 1p/kg less then steers. R4L steers in northern England have seen their premium over Scotland double to 10p/kg. Young bulls were quoted down 8p/kg to £3.34/kg for R4L carcases.

Deadweight cow prices dropped 3p/kg to £2.38/kg for an O-4L carcase, which is only above the southern English cow price.

According to the ADHB, the EU external exports of fresh or frozen beef for 2018 totalled 220,200t, down 6% year on year. These exports have been facing stiff competition recently in a number of Asian markets amid higher global supply of beef and a number of large beef-producing nations increasing presence in the region. Exports to Turkey continue to perform well, up 75% on 2017 levels. Trade with Turkey and other nearby markets has somewhat tempered the decline in exports this year, with fresh product to Turkey in part replacing frozen export declines to Asia. Fresh product is generally more expensive, and so despite a decline in volume terms, the value of beef exports is up by 1% to €830m.