Cattle Prices on the Up
IRELAND - IFA National Livestock Chairman Angus Woods has said cattle price are increasing again this week, with reports of €4.10 to as high as €4.20 base offered for steers and €4.20 to €4.30 offered for heifers.
22 May 2017
2 minute read
In addition he said €4.15 base has been paid for bulls and prices of €4.10/4.20 for R/U grades are common.
He said finished cattle supplies have tightened dramatically in the last two weeks and factories are scrambling to get adequate supplies to meet strong market demand.
The Livestock leader said UK beef price has increased again by 3p/kg in the last week and this is the sixth successive week of price rises.
UK prices are now 41p/kg above last year’s levels. Current UK prices are £3.62/kg, which is equivalent to €4.43/kg including VAT.
“This positive momentum in our largest export market provides significant scope for factories to lift prices further here,” Mr Woods said.
The official Department of Agriculture reported prices for week ending 7 May show that the average R3 steer price was €4.19/kg and the average R3 heifer price was €4.31/kg.
Young bulls are making €4.19 for Us, €4.11 for Rs and €3.91/kg for O grades. Mr Woods said Cows are also a good trade with €3.68/kg for Rs, €3.47 for Os and €3.41/kg for P+ grades.
Live exports
On live exports, Mr Woods said the trade remains buoyant with total live exports reaching over 105,000 head.
This is an increase of over 31,000 head on last year and reflecting a 42 per cent increase.
He said this is due mainly to a strong calf export trade to the EU as a result of IFA work in reducing charges on exports.
In addition, he said the live export trade is strongly boosted by the exports to Turkey where he said two ships have already sailed and another is due to load again next week.
Mr Woods said the Express 1 boat is loading for Libya this week and another boat is on the way to Ireland to load for Turkey.
TheCattleSite News Desk
