Meat Market Update July 6, 2015 12:00 am Beef The UK beef market went into decline at the turn of the year, mirroring what happened in the first quarter of 2014; is this becoming a seasonal trend? However, as forecast, supplies are now tightening and cattle prices have risen significantly over the last few weeks. For the week ending 27th June the prime average deadweight price for all classes of cattle increased by a further 5p per kg to 343.1p per kg. The R4L price for both steers and heifers is now over 350p per kg, the first time since mid-April. In addition, the producers’ share of the retail price has increased for the first time in 2015 to 48%. Supplies have been tightening; the latest weekly throughputs were estimated to be at their lowest weekly levels for the year (apart from Bank Holiday weeks). Looking ahead, finished cattle numbers are expected to reduce further in the second half of the year in both the UK and Ireland. This should have a positive impact on farmgate prices, but if the Pound continues to strengthen against the Euro, especially with the ongoing situation in Greece, there will be increased competition from imports. Lamb After starting 2015 higher than the previous year, farmgate prices in the UK fell below year-earlier levels around mid-March as volumes coming onto the market increased. Prices have been struggling ever since. The second half of April saw a significant drop in the GB deadweight prices and although there was a slight upturn in early May this was not sustained and both liveweight and deadweight prices have fallen significantly. This is despite numbers coming forward falling over the last couple of weeks. The sharp fall in liveweight prices means farmgate levels are nearly 50p less than at the same time last year. The week ending 1st July saw the NSL SQQ at 156.6p per kg liveweight, a drop of 14p per kg on the week. The deadweight price fell sharply (27p per kg) in the week ending 27th June to 384.9p per kg. Looking forward, it is difficult to see prices improving, especially in the short term. Domestic supplies look plentiful following a good lamb crop in 2015 and the weakness of the Euro is making UK lamb less competitive on the export market. Pigs Since July last year the UK pig price has been declining, only stabilising in mid-March after which there have been small fluctuations either way until June. However since the start of June pig prices have shown consistent gains. In the week ending 27th June the EU-Spec SPP was 132.78p per kg, up a further 0.4p per kg on the week, the highest since the end of February. However, this is still nearly 31p per kglower than year-earlier levels. On the supply side, slaughterings continue to fall, similar to the beef market, weekly throughputs are at their lowest level in almost a year (apart from Bank Holiday weeks). But an increase in demand is required to see any significant uplift in farmgate prices. Once again pigmeat producers will be keeping an eye on the weather, hoping for a BBQ summer to increase demand and good weather across the globe to keep feed costs down.
