The beef trade remains steady week with prices similar to last week on the back of continued strong supply.
This is according to Bord Bia’s latest market update which also notes that the trade remains relatively unchanged across our key export markets.
Bord Bia report prices quoted by export meat plants for steers were on average purchased at a base price of between €3.90 and €3.95/kg on the Quality Payment System. Heifers continue to trade at a base price of between €3.95 and €4.00/kg. These prices exclude the €0.12/kg bonus which is payable on in-spec QA animals. Prices paid for O grade cull cows were generally ranging between €3.00 to €3.15/kg.
Cattle supplies at export meat plants for the week ending 24th May stood at around 32,800 head, which was around 23% higher than the equivalent week in 2013. Cumulative supplies for the year to-date are running at around 78,000 head or almost 13% above the figures for the corresponding period last year. Cumulative supply of heifers continue to be up around 19% on the corresponding period last year with steers and young bulls remaining up by over 10% respectively.
In Britain, Bord Bia reported cattle prices from the AHDB have decreased with GB R4L grade steers averaging at Stg 346.7 pence/kg dw (equivalent to 425.6 cent/kg dw) for the week ending 24th May. Trade continues to remain slow for forequarter cuts with rump cuts and ribs continuing to perform the best.
In France, it says little change has been reported with demand remaining slow for BBQ cuts due to the poor weather conditions. In Italy the trade continues to remain similar to previous weeks on the back of weak consumption.
