Does the beef market remain this quiet?

The cattle market is generally quite stable. The demand is, as is usual in October, somewhat lower, but overall the tightness remains palpable. Meanwhile, prices in Ireland continue to decline significantly. The cattle market is currently fairly stable, especially for cows of O-quality. The market remains quite tight, but as usual, it is a bit quieter in October. The consequence of this is that cattle prices are moving sideways almost everywhere. Notably, the Irish price has now fallen below the German price. Insiders in the market report that prices in the meat markets are pulling back. This does not mean that there is a structural decline. It is a normal seasonal pattern. Demand is always somewhat weaker in October, as the holidays are still far away and the nice weather is over. As a result, there is no longer a barbecue demand, and the terraces are no longer full. Still, the structural scarcity is clearly noticeable. Market insiders indicate that currently trading is mainly done with smaller batches. It has also become more common, according to them, to split orders into multiple smaller transactions and to purchase from different sellers. Market for luxury cuts unstable Additionally, in the hospitality sector in countries like Germany, France, Belgium, and Italy, there is a weaker demand for luxury cuts due to the start of the game season. Game typically serves as an alternative to steak, which leads to a decline in demand for such cuts in countries where this type of meat is popular. Traders also note that prices for luxury cuts have fluctuated significantly in recent weeks. It is not uncommon for the availability of specific products to be very limited one week and to pick up again a few weeks later. A slight recovery is expected in the offal market. Milk prices have decreased significantly in recent weeks, shifting the point at which it becomes profitable for dairy farmers to send less productive cattle to slaughter. Therefore, it is expected that more cull cows, and consequently beef offal, will hit the market in the short term. Irish prices continue to decline Meanwhile, the price of Irish cattle, contrary to the European trend, continues to fall. R-class bulls made a clear step down in week 39: from €7.22 per kilo to €7.14 per kilo. Compared to the peak in week 34 of €7.58 per kilo, this represents a decline of 5.8%. The decline is the result of a larger supply. For the first time since April, 30,000 cattle were slaughtered in the week of September 28. In the summer, the slaughter numbers fell sharply, hitting a low point in August, when it was around 24,000 cattle. Since then, the number of slaughters has cautiously increased again. However, it still lags behind last year's level. In the same period last year, about 25% more cattle were slaughtered than in the most recent week. At that time, the slaughter number was around 40,000 cattle.