The Eastern Young Cattle Indicator (EYCI) was largely steady and is having trouble taking on the magic 600¢/kg cwt barrier as it moved to 595.5¢/kg cwt on Thursday, but closed Tuesday at 591.75¢/kg cwt. Supply isn’t forcing prices lower, with national slaughter continuing to decline, last week, cattle slaughter was at its lowest full week level since February 2013. It has also moved below the five-year average for this time of year.
There is no doubt we are seeing the supply contraction we had to have.
The impact on markets hasn’t been as significant as we expected. While the EYCI has rallied back to record highs, finished cattle prices are lagging around 10 per cent behind September values. This tells us it is restocker and feeder cattle driving the EYCI, where as in September is was trade and feeders.
- Mecardo Market Analysis
