Quotes from factory agents yesterday appeared to indicate “a steadying” in the trade with fewer top-end prices being offered. By top-end I mean that extra 5c/kg that pushes your base 10c/kg above what is generally quoted in a given week.
riving this “steadying” are the continuing strong numbers. The last week of January saw 34,732 cattle processed — a strong figure — yet the following week, ending on February 5, that figure was up another 1,313 to 36,045. A look at the figures from the department’s weekly meat market report for that week shows that bullocks accounted for 12,902, or 36pc, of that 36,045 figure, with heifers at 10,656 making up 30pc of the kill. The percentage of young bulls at 9pc, or 3,200 head, is back from a previous high of 12pc, while the percentage of cull cows presenting at 25pc or 8,852 for that week remains fairly constant.
While the figures are strong, close observers of the trade note that stronger feedlot activity at marts for feeder stock last week indicates that factories have been tapping their own feedlots and those on contract for supplies in recent weeks.
With those extra numbers in the system, factories have managed to stabilise quotes with bullocks yesterday on €5.20-5.25/kg to a top of €5.30/kg, while heifers remain at €5.30/kg to a top of €5.35/kg.
Quotes for young bulls also remain steady with Us on €5.50/kg and Rs on €5.40/kg, however for regular suppliers, €5.50/kg for mixed loads continues to be achievable. Quotes for cull cows are likewise unchanged with Os selling from €4.70-4.85/kg and P grades on €4.60-4.70/kg. Similar to the bull situation, regular suppliers with mixed loads continue to get Ps away at O grade prices.
Over a month ago Joe Clune of Sixmilebridge commented that factories had got it wrong before Christmas when they indicated that they did not see prices in the early part of the year improving. This saw many winter finishers deciding to reduce the number of animals they would feed on to beef but not necessarily reduce their overall numbers.
Today with prices well improved, factory agents are reported to be encouraging those same men to take some of those cattle they were “storing” for grass and beef them over the next few months. While farmers tend to judge the strength of the market for beef by studying weekly kill figures, the figures the factories study are more to do with the actual amount of beef they are producing and how that volume will be distributed among their many customers.
Data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows that Irish beef from the processing sector was exported to 76 countries during the first 11 months of 2022. The total volume of beef exported over those 11 months was 460,052 tonnes, up 5,432 tonnes on the 454,620 tonnes exported in the full 12 months of 2021.
Britain was our major outlet, accounting for just over a third of all processed beef exported at 154,091 tonnes, with France coming in second on 56,525 tonnes followed by Northern Ireland on 54,145 tonnes. Other significant players included Holland (33,322 tonnes), Italy (25,807 tonnes) and Sweden (21,680 tonnes).
Outside of Britain and the EU, the Philippines was the seventh biggest market for Irish beef during the first 11 months of 2022, taking a total of 15,325 tonnes with Senegal 14th on 3,670 tonnes and the USA 16th at 3,495 tonnes.
Sales to China during the first 11 months of 2022 amounted to just 130 tonnes, back from the high of 5,132 tonnes during 2020. Although Hong Kong took 4,087 tonnes of beef from the Republic in 2022, and was our 12th most important market, that figure is well back on the 16,575 tonnes exported during 2020.
