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Cattle prices rise alongside throughputs
Wednesday, 6 May 2020
In the week ended 2 May, prime cattle prices rose by 1.5p, the all-prime price averaging 323.6p/kg. Steer prices led the way with prices overall increasing by 1.6p, to 324.4p/kg, carcases meeting the R3 and R4L specs rose in price by 2.4p and 1.8p respectively. Heifer prices posted a more modest gain of 1.0p, to average 324.0p/kg overall, with R3 carcases falling slightly in price.
Young bulls rose in price by over 3p overall, to 314.5p/kg. Cow prices too gained a substantial 5.7p to 216.0p/kg. Those meeting the –O4L spec gained more than 8p to average nearly 238.9p/kg, likely underpinned by the continued strength in demand for minced beef at retail.
The prime cattle market has been stabilising over the past three weeks, and there may now be cause for optimism as more supermarkets discount or promote steaks. This is intended to encourage demand and address carcase balance issues that have developed since the closure of the foodservice sector in late March. Reports suggest that stocks of steaks in store are no longer building at the rate they were.
Estimated prime slaughter in the week ended 2 May was 31,350 head, nearly 750 head more than last week. Estimated cow slaughter also rose, by over 250 head on the week to 9,230 head.
*Estimated slaughter figures should be treated with caution, as more animals than usual may have been sold deadweight, given the temporary disruption to some live markets.
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