The Eastern Young Cattle Indicator staged a mild 2 per cent decline, as the 90CL beef export price continued to trek sideways to close at 557¢/kg CIF.
Young cattle in the west continued to bounce around between 550-600¢, with an 8 per cent gain this week to 595¢/kg cwt. A 42 per cent surge was noted in NSW cattle throughput, appearing to put some pressure on trade steers there with a 4 per cent drop to 308¢/kg lwt. Feeder and heavy steers in NSW were also slightly weaker, while Queensland and Victoria are dragging the chain a bit, down 2.4 per cent and 4.2 per cent respectively.
Cattle prices are broadly anticipated to continue to consolidate at current levels, with the chance for some gains noted in the south.
The drier northern regions may still experience some further slight declines.
