Beef Price Pressure Opportunistic and Unjustified Based on Markets – IFA
IFA Livestock Chair Declan Hanrahan has hit out at factories for their opportunistic and unjustified attempts to drop beef prices.
Declan Hanrahan said markets were never stronger, with Brazilian beef out of the EU market since September. This is creating real opportunities for Irish beef.
He said the Bord Bia Prime Export Benchmark Price has now moved to 24c/kg above our price reflecting beef prices in our key markets and the demand for beef.
The UK beef price increased by a further 4p/kg in the last week and is currently running 93c/kg above our prices, or over €370 on a 400kg carcase.
Declan Hanrahan said the strong throughput in recent weeks has brought numbers almost in line with last year at this stage and points towards a tightening of supplies for the remainder of the year.
He said farmers should not be misled by factories and their agents talking down beef prices. They have taken advantage of the strong numbers in recent weeks, but this is coming to an end.
The IFA Livestock Chair said factories are buying for the lucrative Christmas trade; demand is strong and prices are rising in our key markets. Farmers should dig in and sell hard in positive market conditions for our beef.
