More life in trade for final week of 2002

THERE was more life in the trade for beef at the factories yesterday than had been expected for the final week of the year for slaughtering.

Quotes from the factories were firm or slightly improved on last week's prices but some plants were not showing their hand on price and there were some unconfirmed reports of strong prices being paid for underage cattle.

Supplies of young cattle appeared to be lighter than had been expected for the final week before the Christmas holidays and factories were having to pay a little more in certain areas. However, the pattern was not uniform across the country.