Factors conspired to see the Australian market soften again, with the headline Eastern Young Cattle Indicator down 1.6 per cent to close last week at 574¢/kg cwt.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) August rainfall outlook indicates the dry will persist for another month, and it looks particularly unfriendly to southern NSW.
Victorian saleyards registered feeder steers and trade steers as their weakest two categories, down 6.2 per cent (301¢/kg lwt) and 4.2 per cent (302¢/kg lwt). NSW markets were reasonably flat on the week, apart from medium cows, marked down 4.3 per cent to 208¢/kg lwt. Western young cattle posted a slight rise to 559¢/kg cwt, a gain of 1.1 per cent.
Off shore, the 90CL frozen cow indicator dropped 4.1 per cent to 566¢/kg CIF as US meat packers reduced their prices.