Livestock & Meat Commission for N.Ireland weekly bulletin
Deadweight Cattle Trade
The deadweight trade for prime cattle in NI came under some pressure last week due to an increased supply, with 8,332 prime cattle slaughtered in local plants.
This was the highest weekly prime cattle throughput in NI since November 2023. There was also a peak in prime cattle imports last week with 334 head moving from ROI, with October 2023 being the last time a similar weekly import level was recorded. Consequently, the average price paid in NI for steers, heifers and young bulls was back2.3p/kg, 1.2p/kg and 1.7p/kg respectively.
Meanwhile the cow trade strengthened in NI with average cow prices up 3.6p/kg to300.7p/kg. Last week 2,304 cows were processed locally with 128 cows imported from ROI last week. Early next week a similar trade is expected with preliminary base quotes from the major processors remaining steady for all types of cattle.Across the water in GB, pressure on the prime cattle tradelastweek stemmed from the Midlands and Wales region where the trade was back for all types of prime cattle. This saw the overall GB average for steers and heifers come back.
Steers reported a0.7p/kg decline to 487.5p/kg while heifers reported a 1.5p/kg decrease to an average of 484.11p/kg. The trade for young bulls increased overall last week up 3.7p/kg to 471.7p/kg with the cow trade in GB also reporting improvements last week.
Sheep Trade
The deadweight hogget trade reported a strong recovery this week with a further strengthening expected next week.
Preliminary base quotes for early next week for R3 grade hoggets are in the region of 780-790p/kg up to 22.5kg. Base quotes for spring lambs are not currently available with small numbers being slaughtered relative to hogget throughput levels.
Last week the average price paid for a deadweight hogget in NI was up 8.4p/kg to 735.4p/kg, while spring lambs were back 8.4p/kg on the previous week to 787.1p/kg. The GB deadweight hogget price reached a record high last week surging 21.2p/kg week on week to 850.7p/kg. In ROI the hogget market also continues to strengthen with the average price paid last week up by the equivalent of 6.3p/kg to 750.8p/kg.
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