Beef prices were back across plants in Northern Ireland this week (week commencing Monday, July 4th, 2022), with a further pull on the cards for next week.
According to the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC), prices for in-spec U-3 grade prime cattle fall “slightly” to 424-430p/kg.
The body expects factories to shave a further 4p/kg off these quotes next week, which would bring them to 420-426p/kg.
The cow trade “held steady” this week, with factories placing base quotes of 335-376p/kg on the table for “good” quality O+3 grading cows. It expects plants to offer “similar” quotes for cull cows next week.
According to the LMC, the deadweight cattle trade has come “under some pressure” in Northern Ireland.
Beef Prices July 2022
The LMC reported that:
- The deadweight cow trade in NI has come back and the O3 cow price fell by 2.2p/kg last week to 384.7p/kg. This placed NI 10.1p/kg behind the equivalent 03 cow price in ROI and 5.2p/kg behind the average GB price for O3 cows.
- R3 steer price “remain” steady at 446.8p/kg. Last week, the average steer price was back 0.9p/kg from the previous week at 436.8p/kg;
- The R3 heifer price in NI increased only “slightly” by 0.3p/kg last week to 447.0p/kg, while the average heifer price was up by 1.9p/kg to 438.7p/kg.
Cattle kill
According to the LMC, some processors have reported a decline in cattle availability in the last few weeks with 6,403 prime cattle slaughtered locally last week.
This was back 744 head from the previous week and was just 122 head behind the 6,525 prime cattle processed in NI during the corresponding week in 2021.
Furthermore, cow throughput has “remained strong” in Northern Ireland with 2,085 cows processed last week.
This was similar to the corresponding week in 2022 when a total of 1,977 cows were processed locally; however, throughput during June 2022 is 1,196 head above the same levels during the relevant period of 2021.
Exports and imports
There were 308 prime cattle imported from ROI for processing in local plants last week. Imports of prime cattle have amounted to 1,550 head during the last six weeks compared to 2,296 head in the same period in 2021.
Last week, there were 124 cows imported from ROI for direct slaughter in local plants, with 664 cows imported during the last six weeks.
Cow imports for direct slaughter were “up marginally” from 613 head during the corresponding period last year.
Meanwhile, exports to ROI last week comprised eight prime cattle, 54 cows and two bulls, and a consignment of 31 cows were exported from NI to GB for direct slaughter.
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