Rain halts movements, lifts prices

03 February 2012

At the conclusion of Thursday’s markets the benchmark Eastern Young Cattle Indicator (EYCI) increased to 394.5¢/kg cwt, as the market reacted to the widespread rainfall. The EYCI was up 4.75¢ compared with last Friday and  3.25¢/kg cwt higher year-on-year.

Assisting the rise for the week was the cancellation of all sales at Roma, with heavy rains cutting highways and causing flooding across central Queensland. This resulted in NSW markets such as Casino, Wagga and Dubbo contributing more cattle to the EYCI. The rain also meant cattle supplies remained tight in the eastern states, with total throughput 3% higher despite the return to the full selling week. 

The restricted supplies have halted the softer trend observed in the cattle markets over the past fortnight. Competition has lifted as processors focused on the physical markets to source enough cattle, while the rain ensured restocker demand remained high. Feeder demand was restrained, however, with many of the major operators unable to source cattle.

Print this page

Email page

Go back to top