Restocker demand drives the market
Slaughter cattle come off their highs as buyers selectively bid up young stock to replenish numbers.
PRICES for heavy slaughter cattle lost some momentum last week as demand for young replacement steers and heifers continued at very strong levels.
The cow and bullock market was sticky with most major saleyards reporting cheaper trends amid reduced exporter demand.
In the cow market a few factors were at play, with reports some meatworks were accessing good numbers of northern pastoral cows near Alice Springs, the dollar strengthening slightly taking the edge off grinding beef returns, and key manufacturing beef trade in the US remaining distorted by COVID-19.
The latest price indicators from the National Livestock Reporting Service — which have only just restarted after being halted by coronavirus restrictions — has the national cow average at 260c/kg liveweight or 18c/kg cheaper than the previous week.
Cows recorded the biggest price correction, and in the past seven days only very good beef females in top condition were able to command over 300c/kg lwt.
Most of the better beef cows were trending between 260c-290c/kg lwt.
The Queen’s Birthday holiday meant there were no major sales in Victoria and NSW earlier this week to provide an early indication of how the market could reopen.
The bullock market also steadied, with the saleyard average easing to 346c/kg lwt late last week, according to data from the NLRS.
However quality grown steers still commanded strong results at Leongatha in South Gippsland last week, with the main run of heavy bullocks weighing over 600kg selling to 386c/kg and averaging 375c/kg lwt. In dollar per head terms, that still produced a healthy average of nearly $2300.
Agents said it was the plainer grown steers that have sold to weaker demand.
The same trend of buyers being more “selective” with their bidding was also evident across the tradeweight categories in the past week.
While the pick of the vealers and grainfed steers and heifers still commanded over 400c/kg lwt, markets generally lost some intensity.
It was evident at Swan Hill last Thursday where grainfed steers, which had made exceptional money a fortnight prior at up to 454c/kg, eased back by 10c-30c/kg depending on size.
The sale still posted a healthy top of 438c/kg for nicely weighted domestic calves under 400kg, with averages for the best trade cattle coming back to sit between 400c-420c/kg lwt. But restocker confidence has continued unabated, with well-bred store calves tracking over 450c/kg lwt at both saleyards and on AuctionsPlus last week.
AuctionsPlus reported that most of its categories recorded price improvements late last week, with producers undeterred by the onset of winter and frosts, which will slow pasture growth.
Steers weighing 200kg to 280kg averaged 489c/kg on the internet selling system, while heifers of the same weight averaged 459c/kg.
The lighter weight calf categories are commanding the highest cents-per-kilogram rates.
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