Market Conditions Justify Further Beef Price Increases – IFA
IFA National Livestock Chair Declan Hanrahan said tight supplies and market demand are driving trade in our key beef export markets. EU young bull prices are continuing to strengthen, combined with the UK price, the Bord Bia Prime export benchmark has opened a gap of 12c/kg with the Prime Irish composite price.
The amount of beef exported to the UK has increased by 16% to date with their prices alone being over 80c/kg above our price clearly indicating that there is a strong demand for beef in these key export areas.
Strong demand for beef in both the UK and EU markets creates favourable conditions for stronger beef prices.
Demand for the export of live cattle will also impact the number of animals available for factories here. At present, weanling, store and finished cattle exports are over 27% and 37% ahead of 2023 prices with predictions being made for continuing demand for the remainder of 2024.
Mr. Hanrahan said that further increases in beef prices can be justified by current market conditions and factories must offer realistic quotes aligned with key market prices.
