Exchange rate movements is one factor putting pressure on UK beef prices, according to Quality Meat Scotland (QMS).
Stuart Ashworth, QMS head of economics services has highlighted the strengthening of Sterling leading to a widening gap with Irish and European beef prices.
“Despite Irish producers getting 6% more Euros from the market than last year, the UK price is 13.5% higher in Euro and so the gap has widened. However, because of currency movements, while the UK price is around 2-3% lower in Sterling, Irish prices have fallen by 7-8%,” said Ashworth.
Data from January meat trade activity has also shown UK beef exports falling while imports - of which Ireland is the biggest supplier – increased, leading to a higher volume of beef on the UK market.
After a positive start to 2015, UK prime cattle prices have dropped over the past six weeks. The average price currently stands two to three percent lower than 12 months ago, while the number of cattle being slaughtered is reducing.
“During February, Scottish abattoirs handled 3.8% fewer prime cattle than last year, compared with Northern Ireland at 2.5% fewer and England and Wales at 2% more,” stated Ashworth.
“However, a bigger influence here is that carcase weights continue to be higher than last year, by around 1.5%. The result is that, despite the number of animals beginning to tighten, the volume of beef they produce is continuing to run ahead of last year.”
Another challenge for the beef supply chain has been a slowdown in demand for manufacturing beef which has affected trade for forequarters pulling wholesale prices down.
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
