There is no big change in the beef trade over the last few days. Factories remain keen on maximising throughput, but there is an unwillingness to relinquish pressure on prices.

Those with greater negotiating power and trading at the top of the market continue to secure a base of €3.95/kg for steers and €4.05/kg for heifers, but for other sellers securing a higher return is proving challenging. This is leaving a good percentage of the kill continuing to trade at a base of €3.90/kg for steers and €4.00/kg for heifers.

There is also little change in the bull and cow trade. Young bulls continue to sell on average for €3.90/kg for R grades and €4.00/kg for U grades, with some specialist finishers pushing prices for R grades to €3.95/kg to finalise sales. Bulls less than 16 months and trading on the grid are moving at a base of €3.90/kg in general, with small numbers 2c/kg to 5c/kg higher.

The general run of prices for cows is €3.25/kg to €3.35/kg for P+3 grades, €3.35/kg to €3.45/kg for fleshed O grades and €3.50/kg to €3.60/kg for U grades. Cow-specialist plants continue to pay a premium for large sale groups, with some particularly active for young, heavy fleshed U grading cows and willing to pay up to €3.70/kg.

Northern trade

The northern trade is firm, with base quotes unchanged at a range of £3.48/kg to £3.54/kg. This equates to €3.93/kg to €4.00/kg or €4.15/kg to €4.22/kg including VAT at 5.4%.

Specialist finishers continue to command higher prices, with last week’s reported prices for U-3 steers and heifers averaging £3.62/kg (€4.31/kg incl VAT). The prices report shows O3 grading cows averaging £2.82/kg (€3.36/kg incl VAT), while R3 grading bulls average around £3.40/kg (€4.05/kg incl VAT).

Live exports

Meanwhile, Supreme Livestock is set to load bulls for live export to Libya midweek. The shipment includes up to 1,200 Friesian bulls and 100 breeding animals.

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