A SEASONAL dip in the deadweight cattle trade has seen the GB average slip back 10p per kg from the start of the year, but on a more positive note prices have shown some upward momentum moving in to the month of April – the first noticeable increase this year. 

Figures from AHDB Beef and Lamb show the all GB steer average to the week ended April 8 levelled at 345.2p, a slight rise on the week and up nearly a penny on the fortnight. This compared to 317p during the same period last year but, importantly, around 1200 more steers sold this year during the same period compared to last. 

It’s more favourable for Scottish producers and highlighted the Scottish premium still paid to producers north of the Border, as the steer average sat at 359.6p to the week ended April 8, a 1.2p rise on the week and up from 325.6p during 2016. 

This turnaround in the last fortnight could suggest that the trade balance has tipped, as demand from processors edges ahead of supplies coming forward. It could also be due to Easter giving retailers and consumers a taste for premium cuts, giving a knock-on effect down the line. 

This has been the case at many of Scotland’s live auction marts, where the majority of sections recorded an increase on the week of between 2p and 5p per kg. Theses markets saw trade reach 220p to 255p, with that top price paid through Lawrie and Symington’s Forfar centre for a Limousin heifer weighing 569kg from JA Peters and Son, West Bog. 

This knock-on effect is continuing in the store ring, too, as spring calf sales get underway across the country. The annual spring sale on Islay, conducted by United Auctions, saw bullocks sell for £40.48 per head or 21.6p per kg more than at the corresponding sale last year, with heifers noting similar increases of £47.43 per head, or 19.9p per kg. 

Trade for native-sired store cattle is proving robust, with special Aberdeen-Angus and native sales mostly recording an increase in averages on the year. This was certainly seen at Dingwall and Highland Marts’ sale through Dingwall, last week, where all sections of Angus and native-sired bullocks and heifers averaged upwards of 220p per kg, and peaked at £1400 for a 580kg Angus bullock from 189 Fleucharry, Dornoch, and 290.3p for an Angus bullock weighing 310kg from Gordonhill, Kingussie.

Although developments in the finished trade typically drives the store trade, recent data indicates the connection between the two areas is a little weaker at the moment. Prices for yearling animals have strengthened, which suggests those buying cattle for finishing over a longer period are optimistic about a recovery in deadweight prices. This has bled into prices for slightly older native breeds, despite the recent finished prices of premium cattle suffering more than most. 

There’s more positive news on the export front as, while the EU remains critical to UK beef and veal exporters, there are a number of smaller, non-traditional markets outside the EU that have emerged in recent years. They may only account for 11% of UK exports in 2016 as a whole, but the collective market share has doubled in the past three years or so. 

However, it is expected that beef and veal production in the EU will stable somewhate through 2017 and 2018, but a slowdown in production growth in Poland and France, combined wth some stability in the UK, will go some way towards counteracting what will be a strong two years for Irish production. 

Offal exports remain central for export development and, while this has traditionally been destined for EU markets, those in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean are becoming increasingly important. In the month of January, offal shipments were up 7% on the year, and growth in trade to Hong Kong, the Ivory Coast and Ghana was evident, compared to a year earlier.