Flooding impacts restocker supply, but boosts sheep sales
Extreme flooding curtails restocking demand, while the wet conditions swing lamb and sheep prices back up again. See what the top lots were this week.
RAIN had some positive and negative affects on the cattle market early this week.
Modest price gains were recorded in the north as numbers declined, although the extreme conditions and flooding meant restocking demand was curtailed at some centres with stock unable to go onto soaked paddocks.
In Victoria the market was patchy, with some price corrections recorded for both domestic and export weighted cattle as buyers backed away from the very strong rates of the previous week.
The overall result was just some slight price movements on the official saleyard indicators.
After Monday’s sales the national price for
FEEDER steers was 443c/kg liveweight, or 2c better than late last week;
HEAVY steers 372c/kg to be unchanged;
YEARLING steers 448c/kg for a 1.5c improvement; and
MEDIUM slaughter cows 284c, or 1.5c cheaper.
The overarching Eastern Young Cattle Indicator, which is the average for better bred beef vealers and yearlings sold to processors, feedlots and restockers, has started to march upwards again.
On Monday night it was listed at 862.75c/kg carcass weight, showing a rise of 7c on late last week.
When the figures are further analysed, it shows that the highest prices for young and liveweight cattle are being achieved in NSW and Queensland, while heavier slaughter cattle such as bullocks are performing better in the south.
As an example of this, the average price for grown steers in Victoria was listed at 408c/kg lwt compared to 360c in NSW, noting that there is better quality lines of older British bred bullocks in the south.
The best price recorded for slaughter cattle on Monday was 529c/kg for some outstanding B-muscle vealer steers sold at Pakenham to specialist butcher orders.
But sales above 500c remained limited to a few head at each sale, with most processors unwilling to cross into this price territory.
Showing how the market is sensitive, there were price falls of 10c to 15c/kg recorded at Pakenham for yearling tradeweight steers, with only the pick of the cattle selling above 460c to a top of 475c/kg. Yearling heifers also fell for a range of 380c to 450c for the better shaped types.
Market categories to watch include feeder and restocking steers and heifers as well as cows, with the rain anticipated to slow supplies and encourage producers to hold more stock.
At Wagga Wagga in the Riverina on Monday the main run of heavy feeder steers (400kg plus) gained 16c on tighter supplies, selling from 415c to 488c to average 453c/kg lwt. Similar yearling heifers lifted 6c to an average of 420c/kg lwt.
The cow market this week has opened firm to cheaper in the south.
HEAVY RAIN DELIVERS PRICE BOUNCE
CUTS to supply amid the widespread rain have swung lamb and sheep prices back up again.
Northern saleyards were the biggest beneficiary of price gains as heavy rainfall beats down across the state, with some sales quoted as $10 to $25 a head dearer.
In Victoria price movements were more modest, with the best tradeweight lambs averaging $5 to $12 dearer at Bendigo on Monday, according to data from the National Livestock Reporting Service.
The biggest change to the market dynamic was supply, with the soaking conditions preventing stock from being transported to saleyards as well as direct to abattoirs.
Starting in the north, there was just 3062 lambs at Dubbo in central NSW on Monday to be more than half the 8500 head offered a week ago.
At Corowa, in southern NSW, numbers were also halved to 5500 head on the same day.
Supplies at Bendigo fell by a similar ratio, with 11,000 yarded to be 10,000 down on the previous week.
The smaller yardings did put pressure on to buyers trying to fill kill schedules, however there was still some companies not operating or were quiet amid reports they had enough stock around them until after Easter.
Competition from key exporters such as JBS Swift, Thomas Foods International and ALC remained patchy in early trading this week, after these companies secured good supplies via forward contract deals this autumn.
The major supermarket chains also have numbers locked in going forward.
The price hot spot on Monday was Corowa, where sales of nice domestic lambs in the 20-22kg cwt category were listed at an average of 903c/kg or $198 a head, the NLRS estimated.
The 24-26kg tradeweights averaged 870c or $219.
These prices were are a premium to the ballpark rates at other centres such as Dubbo and Bendigo which had these quality domestic lambs tracking between 800c and 840c/kg cwt. The NLRS said there was no change to the heaviest export lambs over 30kg cwt sold at Bendigo, which remained in a range of $230 to a top of $265 for an estimated average of 770c/kg.
At the close of selling on Monday night the saleyard price average for heavy lambs (22kg plus) was listed at 786c/kg, and the tradeweights at 812c.
There were more consistent price movements for mutton on Monday as processors competed for even smaller than usual offerings.
Good lines of Merino ewes and wethers were quoted between 650c to 700c/kg cwt at many saleyards.
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