Beef prices are seeing some movement in quotes this week, yet some negotiations and the digging in of heels is needed to achieve some of these higher prices that are reportedly being secured by finishers in recent days.
Heifers are receiving quotes of €3.85/kg in some plants, yet farmers are still being offered quotes of €3.80/kg in cases. Deals of €3.90/kg are hard achieved – with the deals secured being for specific loads of in-spec females.
In the cow trade, continuing improvements are being seen week-on-week, as P-grades are now priced at €3.00-3.10/kg. Moving up to the O-grades, processors are now favourably offering €3.20/kg.
R-grades are starting off at €3.30/kg, while average prices are reaching closer to €3.40/kg. Higher deals of up to €3.50/kg have also been reported.
For bulls this week, the under 16 month-old males are still valued at €3.75-3.80/kg on the grid.
Meanwhile, bulls under 24 months-old are valued at €3.85-3.90/kg for U-grades and €3.75-3.80/kg for R-grades. O-grades are priced from €3.65/kg up to €3.70/kg by procurement managers this week.
Beef Kill
The beef kill for the week ending March 14, reached 30,886 head (excluding a veal kill of 3,101 head).
Looking at the figures for last week in more detail, the number of steers killed tallied to 12,758 head – which was a jump of 1,091 head in numbers processed in comparison to the previous week.
There was a fall in heifers slaughtered as they amounted to 8,863 head last week. This was a week-on-week deficit of 669 heifers processed.
Meanwhile, there was an additional 38 cows slaughtered last week in comparison to the previous week – with the throughput hitting 6,108 head.
Overall, the kill continues to fall behind by 6,066 head (excluding veal) from the same period last year.
Week-on-week beef kill changes:
Steers: 12,758 head (+1,091 head);
Heifers: 8,863 head (-669 head);
Cows: 6,108 head (+38 head);
Young bulls: 2,629 head (-25 head);
Bulls: 528 head (+43 head);
Total: 30,886 head (+506 head).