Despite rumours that some plants were considering dropping quotes by 5c/kg, information yesterday indicated that prices would remain as they were last week.
his means bullocks, in general, are being quoted at €4.25-4.30/kg with some €4.35/kg available. On the heifer side, the general run is €4.30-4.35/kg, with the tops seeing €4.40/kg. Among the bulls, those under sixteen months are on a R grade base of €4.25/kg, with those under twenty-two months seeing U’s on €4.25-4.35/kg with O’s back around the €4.10/kg mark.
Cull cows also continue to hold with better P grades ranging from €3.60/kg to €3.70-3.80/kg when combined with O’s. R grade culls are on €3.90/kg with U’s at €4.00/kg. Specialist cow finishers are, however, squeezing a shake more due to their bigger numbers.
Interestingly marts last week reported less numbers with a noticeable fall-off in heavy and forward cattle in places.
Trade
In the years running up to Brexit, the advice given by government agencies to those exporting to Britain was to prepare for trade disruption. This, we were told, could result from additional administration procedures and massive tariffs.
For the Irish beef processing sector, this in effect meant either finding new markets or expanding existing markets outside of the UK.
Acting on the advice to diversify away from the UK the percentage of beef exports from Ireland to Britain over the last few years has gradually declined. From a point where we supplied over 50pc of the beef produced here to the UK, figures for the first five months of this year show that figure to be now back to 43pc. This means that 57pc of all the beef produced here during the first five months of this year went elsewhere.
However, part of this reduction in export volume is possibly down to an overhang in supplies stockpiled by supermarkets and factories ahead of Brexit.
Factory prices, after a slow start, have gradually climbed as demand has increased. But where is that demand coming from? Data from the Department of Agriculture show our average price of €4.25/kg by the end of the second week of July to be 45c/kg above the EU average; a figure that surely makes Europe at present a more difficult market.
At the same time, data from the north’s Livestock and Meat commission shows that the average price of your R3 bullock in the north at €4.69/kg is currently 43c/kg stronger than the average of €4.23/kg reported by the Department of Agriculture here for the week of the 12th of July. In Britain that week, your R3 grade bullock averaged €4.77/kg.
Commenting on the trade Joe Burke of Bord Bia agrees that there is now more Irish beef going into the UK than had been expected. “Certainly there was a higher proportion of our exports going to the UK over the past few months than was the case earlier in the year”.
In relation to that 45c/kg gap to the EU average, Mr. Burke commented, “Its big differential over and above European prices. Then processors also have good relationships with key customers where they are able to add some more value to Irish beef either by picking the most valuable market for each of the 20+ primal cuts from the carcase or by securing a more premium position.”
While the processing sector here has always been reluctant to supply detailed information in relation to market performance figures supplied to the Farming Independent by Donegal Meat Processors (Carrigans) claim that up to 60pc of their exports are currently going to the UK with 15pc going to Europe and the remaining 25pc divided between North America, Japan and the Philippines. Another processor with plants both here and the UK told me they have not seen “any notable changes” in volumes going to the UK in the year to date.
With supplies tight and sterling strong, UK retailers appear to prefer the relationships they have with Irish processors even if they are dearer than what’s possibly available on the continent. How else do you explain the strength of the trade overall here? Britain needs volume and convenient local supplies.
