This week's factory quotes for beef cattle see price offers moving upwards again, with a firm degree of positivity returning to the trade.

Factory beef price offers had been in general been declining for the first half of this year before stabilising in mid-June and recovering since then.

Weekly kill numbers have also dropped off since mid-June with the reduced cattle supply helping to drive competition for the reduced factory cattle availability.

Factory quotes: Heifers and steers

This week, heifers are generally being quoted at €6.50/kg on the grid and steers are generally being quoted at €6.40/kg on the grid.

Some factory cattle procurement managers said they are starting the week off at these rates but added that their base price offers may well rise further as the week progresses.

In some cases, farmers with choice lots of prime cattle have managed to book cattle in for this week at prices above these offers.

Angus breed bonuses are generally ranging from 15-20c/kg on eligible cattle, while Hereford breed bonuses are generally ranging from 5-10c/kg on eligible cattle.

Cow price

Cow price offers are also seeing continued positivity with prices up 20c/kg in some cases since last Monday (June 29).

€6.00/kg has been tabled for 'P' grade cows again this week in most cases with some outlets starting the week off at lower rates than this.

'O' grade cows are being quoted at €6.10/kg with €6.20/kg tabled for the better-type 'O+' grade cows.

'R' grade cows are being quoted at €6.30/kg in general this week and 'U' grade cows are being quoted at €6.40/kg.

Some choice lots of fleshed cows and regular cow suppliers are managing to secure higher rates than the official quotes for cows this week.

Click here to see the latest official factory cow price data.

Bulls

Under-24-month bulls are being quoted at up to €6.80/kg for 'U' grades at the higher end of the scale, with other outlets tabling €6.70/kg.

'R' grade bulls are being quoted at €6.70/kg with lower offers of €6.60/kg also common.

'O' grade bulls are being quoted at €6.50-€6.60/kg and 'P' grade bulls are being quoted at €6.30-€6.40/kg.

Under-16-month bulls are being quoted at €6.40/kg on the grid in general this week with higher prices available in certain cases.