There was a significant jump in yardings, with east coast cattle lifting 6.1 per cent to 40,044 head.
But this remains below September’s levels. In fact, the lift in yardings is likely to be more due to the public holiday in the previous week, with a bit of a backlog of cattle hitting the market now.
We’re still seeing yardings well below the five-year average though, which suggests producers are holding back in response to recent rain.
The Eastern Young Cattle Indicator continued to rally, but the pace has slowed. It gained 8¢, taking it to the levels of five weeks ago at 541.25¢/kg cwt. Heavy steer prices broke back through 500¢ in NSW (507¢) and Victoria (518¢), but somehow managed to slip below those levels in Queensland (492¢).
The weakening Australian dollar gave beef export prices a small lift.