Stable beef trade continues, gaining a firmer edge
Strong factory demand and constrained cattle supplies across Europe are supporting a stable beef trade, with growing optimism about returns in the final months of the year.
A stable trade for beef is continuing at the factories, with strong demand for supplies and prices a shade firmer at the upper end of the range this week.
Overall, there is more positivity in the trade and processors are showing more confidence in returns from the export markets, with increasing speculation that the ban on imports from Brazil is set to show benefits.
Several factories have increased the number of slaughtering days or extended daily working hours to process the higher throughput, and waiting lists for suppliers to get cattle killed are currently off the boards.
The base price for steers is steady at 640c/kg in general. Some suppliers are reporting that a few cents/kg more is available in the northwest of the country and for larger numbers of quality animals at some factories in the midlands and south of the country.
Heifers are working off a general base of 650c/kg, with up to 655c/kg available for quality lots.
There is strong demand for cows at 610-620c/kg for R-grades and a bit more this week at factories which specialise in supplying the manufacturing and catering trade.
Some suppliers are reporting that up to 630c/kg can be negotiated for heavy, well-fleshed cows at factories specialising in the cow trade, particularly if larger numbers are on offer.
Bord Bia advises that the current stability in the trade is being influenced by “cattle supplies remaining relatively constrained across much of Europe”.
However, it points out that “inflationary pressures on consumers, combined with historically high beef prices, continue to affect beef purchasing volumes at both retail and food service level across key export markets”, but there are grounds for optimism about an uplift in demand in the final months of the year.
Supply last week increased by around a further 600 head to 32,856 head, the fourth consecutive week of intake at the factories exceeding 32,000, which is running at around 5,000 head per week over the corresponding weeks in 2025.
At the same time, the supply deficit compared with 2025 has continued to decline over recent weeks of stronger intake and now stands at 41,684 head, down from over 70,000 head earlier in the year.
However, processors remain keenly interested in processing all the stock that is available to them, fuelling belief in a market upturn for beef, which is a very positive situation for the outlook for finishers’ returns over the coming weeks.
- The intake last week included 14,630 steers, 9,525 heifers, 6,740 cows and 1,386 young bulls.
