Another gain in the cattle trade

By Bethan Wilkins

It seems that the cattle trade is again becoming increasingly favourable for producers. In the week ended 23 June, GB deadweight cattle prices recorded another increase compared to the previous week.

Short supplies are continuing to drive the market. Even though we might have expected further downward pressure following the reopening of foodservice, which may have switched some demand to imported product, it seems the market for British beef remains finely balanced. Beef demand at retail continues to be robust. Our estimated prime slaughter numbers for the week total 30,800 head, 4% below year earlier levels.

At 395.1p/kg, the GB all-prime average was up about 2p on the week. This is now the second consecutive week of gains, after the market had started to fall away in early May. The all-prime average is now back at levels from about a month ago.

Steers and heifers meeting the R4L specification both strengthened by a little under 2p to average over 405p/kg. Overall average steer values were up a little over 2p at 395.7p/kg while average heifer values climbed 1.5p to a similar average of 395.4p/kg. Young bulls did not see the same level of gains, only increasing by 0.6p on the week to average 391.0p/kg.

Cull cow prices were up again on the back of continued tight supply levels in relation to demand. Estimated slaughter did pick up noticeably compared to the previous week, totalling 9,700 head, which is over 1,000 more than the week before. However, this is not sufficient to compensate for relatively low throughputs generally recorded throughout June and earlier in the spring. At 287.5p/kg, the overall average cow price was up almost 2p on the week earlier.

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