All hands on deck clearing cattle
Young cattle prices have bounced back after the recent rain, improving 28ȼ to 626ȼ/kg cwt. While rain helps limit the flow of cattle at one end of the supply chain, at the other, plenty of beef is on deck and headed overseas. The story at Roma and Dubbo was big yardings and keen demand for […]
Disruption ahead so supply shuffles forward
Sheep producers are making way for the winter crop and getting ahead of the upcoming public holiday sales disruption. Close to 250,000 lambs flooded to saleyards across the country this week which was a huge jump of almost an extra 100k on the previous week. Anzac Day will be commemorated on the 25th of April […]
A goldilocks wool market: not too hot, not too cold
Back from the Easter recess, results were mixed between selling centres with the Merino segment fairly steady in Sydney, stronger in Melbourne and weaker in the West. A large offering was met with mixed interest influenced by a stronger Aussie dollar. The Eastern Market Indicator held steady at 1,142¢/kg clean. The AUD has strengthened since […]
USDA offers up a vanilla slice
Last night, the market rolled back on itself after the USDA printed a very vanilla April WASDE (World Ag Supply & Demand Estimates) report. With most of the focus on South America, the trade had expected the USDA to make some cuts to both Brazilian and Argentine production. However, the USDA saw fit to hold […]
Sheep Live export lifts in 2023 despite uncertainty
Live sheep exports rose year-on-year for the first time in five years in 2023 but were still historically low. And while good numbers headed offshore in February, year-to-date figures for 2024 are still quite sluggish. Some markets have been improving, with Saudi Arabia continuing to be active after importing Australian sheep for the first time […]
Finding a floor or dead cat bounce?
Sowing is getting underway here, and this generally sees selling slow down as grain growers are busy on tractors rather than filling trucks with old season grain, or at the computer looking at new season prices. While there is nothing screaming sell at the moment, things are looking more positive. Wheat prices seem to have […]
Surge to slump in Australian wool supply
Wool supply this season in Australia has been anything but smooth, with a big surge coming early in the season and now supply is dropping sharply compared to year earlier levels. With this volatility of supply in mind we take a look at the latest AWTA volumes. Commentary on wool production tends to focus on […]
The recipe for higher cattle prices
The best recipe for stronger cattle prices is strong beef export values, and rain. The last week has delivered on both fronts, with major livestock areas in NSW and Queensland receiving autumn rain, and manufacturing beef prices heading towards record levels. We have been hearing a lot about floods in the Blue Mountains, but it […]
Easter Bunny brings the chocolates for restockers
Widespread rain across the East coast has bolstered buyers’ confidence in the market, causing a surge in demand and a lift in prices across the indicators. The Easter break has seen disruptions to sales due to public holidays, but during this 4-day selling week, there was an increase in yardings on the previous week’s 4-day […]
Rain revival for the cattle market?
Widespread and heavy rain is falling in key cattle country, and it’s enough to disrupt the flow of cattle to market. After short weeks due to holidays, near-term supply in the north is likely to tighten up with buyers expected to pay up to fill any gaps in the weeks ahead. In the last week, […]
USDA uncovers a big hole
Last week, I finished off the weekly market comment by saying “ Unless the USDA surprises with a sharper-than-expected reduction in corn area, I suspect the trade are pretty well positioned.” Surprise, surprise, the USDA report released last Friday did end up a market mover. While US wheat and soybean area were right on the […]
Live export lull as we wait for major market
Australian live cattle exports got off to a cracking start, surging well above year-ago levels in January, however, February saw less than half the cattle leave our shores than did in the same month of 2023. This is being put down to the major market, being Indonesia, only signing on the dotted line when it […]
