By Simon McKittrick, Logical Livestock Solutions
After a period of market hesitation with fluctuations from week to week, we are now observing a steady rise across all categories for both store and slaughter markets.
This gradual tightening over the past two to three weeks is expected to restore depth and confidence to markets that faced significant disruptions last year.
All categories have experienced consistent increases in both physical and online sales, with the cow market showing particularly strong growth.
This has been driven by the high demand from the U.S. for Australian 90CL beef, as evidenced by an 85% surge in Australian beef exports to the U.S. from January to May 2024 compared to the same period last year. The export demand is expected to continue strengthening due to reduced beef production in the United States.
On the store front, PTIC cows, cows and calves, light steers, domestic feeders, and heavy feeders have all seen price increases. Lighter heifers have also seen some price rises but are lagging other categories.
Seasonally, most areas of New South Wales and Queensland are looking favourable. Despite wet and cold conditions hampering growth, there is plenty of moisture in the ground. Queensland, with an abundance of feed, has been very active in southern markets recently.
These conditions bode well for a solid start to spring as temperatures rise and feed growth accelerates.
The EYCI is currently sitting around the 623c mark, while the Aus dollar is sitting just over US 67c.
- Domestic Feeder Steer @ $3.60/4.20
- Domestic Feeder Heifer @ $3.00/3.40
- Heavy Feeder Steer @ $3.20/3.40
- Angus Heavy Feeder Steer @ $3.80/4.00+
- Cow @ $5.20/5.80
- MSA Steers @ $6.20/7.00