Exceptional beef trade holds at £6.60/kg amid tight supplies

Finished cattle prices are still commanding a healthy premium above last year’s levels, with prices up throughout the supply chain, including at retail.

Extremely tight supplies of cattle has kept the market bouyant for some time, although there are early signs the beef trade may be starting to soften, with abattoirs cutting base prices.

Despite this, GB deadweight steers still averaged 661p/kg, putting prices 22% higher than the same week last year.

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UK prime cattle slaughterings in November were down 4.5% on the year at 169,000 head, according to Defra figures, and throughputs have remained low since.

The retail price index in October show beef prices were up by 27.4% on the year, according to the Office for National Statistics.

However, higher retail prices have started to affect demand, with total beef volumes sold at retail back by 11% on the year, based on the past 12 weeks of trade.

NFU Livestock Board chairman David Barton said food inflation data was a reflection of rising beef values driven by strong demand from the public outstripping supply, both in the UK and globally.

Export performance

Glesni Phillips, analyst at Welsh red meat levy body Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC), said:

“The combination of firm global demand, tighter international supplies and strengthening monthly export performance continues to provide underlying support to UK farmgate beef prices.

“Although domestic consumer demand remains sensitive to high retail prices, international markets are expected to play an increasingly important role in sustaining returns for producers.”

Meanwhile, cull cow prices have dropped by roughly 20p/kg in recent weeks, with the all cow average standing at 506p/kg deadweight in early December.

Prices in the live ring have also dropped back, with cull cows averaging 230p/kg in the past week at auction markets in England and Wales.

Global market

EU beef production was 3.6% lower during the first nine months of 2025, according to the European Commission.

Cattle prices in the EU have been exceptionally strong throughout the past year and averaged 699 eurocents/kg deadweight in mid-December.

Looking forward, multinational banking group Rabobank has forecast global beef production to contract by 3.1% in 2026.