The beef market is under pressure due to weak demand and ample supply after Easter. Slaughterhouses are lowering prices. Read more about the development of slaughter cattle prices.
The European beef market is at a standstill, and this is now noticeable in the Netherlands as well. Last week, we wrote that insiders expected a sharp drop in prices. That decline has now begun. It is being said in the market that slaughter cattle prices in all categories are under pressure. The slaughterhouse that sent out an email last week has since implemented two consecutive price cuts of 20 and 15 cents.
Other slaughterhouses do not wish to name specific prices but indicate that they recognize the trend outlined above. Preparations for Easter have been completed. The associated drop in demand, combined with full cold storage stocks, is putting significant pressure on slaughter cattle prices.
Vee & Logistiek is not lowering its price yet.
However, the decline is not yet reflected in the official quotations. The Vee & Logistiek quotation showed little sign of this dynamic in week 12 and remained unchanged this week. Prices in all categories are unchanged. This raises the question of the extent to which slaughterhouses are succeeding in driving down prices. Although market insiders report that demand for meat is weak, the supply of cows remains substantial only in the Netherlands. In the rest of the European Union, the supply of cattle is actually very weak. Earlier this year, we already saw slaughterhouses experiencing successive declines of 10 cents. Vee & Logistiek only showed a smaller decline much later.
The decline is now visible at the livestock market in Woerden. Slaughter cows of O-quality have dropped by 20 cents there. Bulls of the same quality, meanwhile, fell slightly less, by 10 cents. According to the livestock market, cattle of lower qualities declined less sharply. P-quality cows decreased in price by 15 cents, first-quality sausage cows by 7 cents, and the price of second-quality sausage cows fell by 5 cents.