May 3 2010

Australian cattle price indicators were reasonably steady last week, except for some falls on young cattle and a further lift on cows – driven by Russia, Japan and US's demand for manufacturing-grade beef.

Restockers are grabbing a higher than normal proportion of cattle sold, adding to the current problems facing meat processors - including lower supplies, sluggish demand on high-quality cuts and co-products, rising costs and the high Australian dollar.

Processor and feeder demand was strong on reduced numbers - with all national category saleyard indicators up 16-23¢ (15-21 US¢)/kg cwt last week.

The big news was the release of inflation figures for the March quarter, which demonstrated that meat retail prices do not immediately reflect saleyard price moves. There was only a 0.6% rise in retail beef prices compared with the December quarter, which contrasted with rises of 8% in saleyard prices.