Factories have resisted the urge to increase beef price, despite the reduced numbers of cattle coming for slaughter.
The prime beef price remains unchanged for the third consecutive week with factories offering 395c/kg for steers and quoting 405c/kg for heifers.
Despite the sub-four euro per kilogram quotes farmers are slow to sell their stock says the main farming organisations who have urged their members to hold out for 400c/kg for steers.
The majority of plants are now sitting at 360/kg for R grade cows, with some plants still offering 370c/kg for these lots.
The plainer type dairy culls have also fallen slightly with plants quoting 340-355c/kg for the O type lots.
The poorer P type cows are making 330-340c/kg while P grade cows with flesh are making up to 345c/kg.
Irish and British price differential
The recent fall in both Irish and UK beef price along with altering exchange rates means that the differential between British and Irish beef has narrowed, in previous weeks this difference sat at €327.
The current difference between Irish and British beef now sits at €308/head when a 350kg steer carcass is compared across both markets.
The most up to date figures from the AHDB (the organisation for British beef and lamb) reports that the British R3 steer price is currently 355p/kg (4.83c/kg), which is the equivalent of €0.88/kg higher then the Irish price.
National beef kill now back 47,250 head on last year
The national beef kill is back 47,250 head on last year, latest figures from the Department of Agriculture show.
For the week commencing August 31, 2015, throughput of cattle to Irish factories stood at 1,071,929, well down on the figure that had gone through last year (1,119,199).
Last week’s total beef kill at factories was 31,422 and this is also back on the corresponding period last year when the weekly kill was 34,053.
The weekly beef kill is back 2,631 head on the same week last year, the figures show.
Beef markets
At present the beef trade remains mixed across the key export markets, says Bord Bia.
However, according to Bord Bia there has been some up lift in the UK beef market as people have returned to work following the holiday season, this resulted in a reported increase in the demand for diced beef.
In France, retailers reluctance to stock imported products is causing trade difficulty, says Bord Bia.