27 April 2018

1 minute read

He said the base price for steers has now moved up to €4.05/4.10/kg and for heifers to €4.15/4.20/kg. He said the higher prices of €4.10 and €4.20 appear to be more prevalent in the northern, eastern and western parts of the country.

Mr Woods said cow prices have also increased strongly this week, with some grades up 10c/kg on last week. He said some quality R grade cows are making up to €3.85/kg, with O grades as high as €3.60/kg and P grades on €3.45/kg in places. Young Bull have also increased in price with €4.10/kg available for R grades and €4.20 plus paid for U grades.

At an EU Commission Beef Meeting he chaired in Brussels this week, Mr Woods said there was a more positive tone to prospects for the trade for 2018. The EU Commission is forecasting an increase in consumption of 0.4 per cent and only a very small rise in production of 0.13 per cent.

He said the Commission is also forecasting that EU prime beef prices should rise by 1.3 per cent and cow prices look set to increase by 3.83 per cent in 2018. He said all the figures point to a strong recovery and growth in beef consumption across the EU markets with overall EU imports up and exports down for the first two months of 2018.

TheCattleSite News Desk