IFA Livestock Chairman Brendan Golden said the phased re-opening of the food service sector in the UK will increase demand for Irish beef and must translate into higher beef prices.
“The food service sector in the UK is a key outlet for Irish beef and the phased re-opening from next Monday is a significant development for beef sales,” he said.
He said prices continue to edge upwards, but are not closing the gap with the Prime Export Benchmark price, which is at 11c/kg.
Factories are paying €3.90/kg for steers and €4.00/kg for heifers, with higher deals for larger and specialist lots. Cows are making from €3.20/kg for P grades and up to €3.70/kg at the top end for good quality R and U grading cows.
He said the key driver in the market place at the moment is the UK as EU R3 Young Bull prices lag behind our current price by 9c/kg.
“The food service sector in the UK is scheduled for full reopening in May. This will increase demand for beef in the coming weeks and must return meaningful beef price increases,” he said.
