After months of retaining the number one spot on the LMC’s R3 heifer price league table, Britain has been knocked off the top by Sweden.
The latest update of the table shows the Swedish beef prices hit 485.1c/kg for the week ending January 17, 2016.
This latest price is up 39.5c/kg compared to the week ending December 20, 2015.
Meanwhile, British prices dropped 22.3c/kg in the week ending January 17 to an equivalent price of 446.8c/kg.
This decline in prices also narrowed the British/EU price differential from 78.4c/kg in the weekend December 20, 2015 to 59.2c/kg in the week ending January 17, 2016.
This is a slight increase of 2.9c/kg from the price paid in the week ending December 20 and placed the average heifer price in the Republic 11.1c/kg above the EU average price.
The Republic remains in sixth place on the EU league table.
In Northern Ireland, the average R3 heifer price was the equivalent of 418.1c/kg, down 14.4c/kg from 432.5c/kg in the week ending December 20.
This drop in the average price also caused the price differential between the North and the Republic to narrow to the equivalent of 19.4c/kg for the week ending January 17.
Comparing the price in the Republic to the EU average, the price in the Republic was 11.1c/kg above the EU average, according to the LMC.
In the week ending January 17, the average R3 heifer price in the EU was 387.6c/kg, down 3.1c/kg from 390.7c/kg in the week ending December 20.
Looking at the exchange rate, the euro was also back at €1= 72.7p in the week ending January 17.
