Image of shipping containers at sea

Let’s look at the US 90CL indicator - a price measure that historically the Australian market has been reflective of.

Latest available data for the 90CL price has it sitting at 677.5ac/kg, down 5 per cent on last year. The national cow indicator, at 494c/kg, is 19 per cent above year-ago levels. This puts the 90CL at a premium of 183c/kg. The Eastern Young Cattle Indicator, on the other hand, currently sits at its largest premium to the 90CL since January 2017. Not surprising since just this week it has broken yet another record, and currently sits at 788.25c/kg.

The most recent Steiner report out of the US has supply concerns holding the 90CL product firm, as weekly slaughter levels in Australia are sitting about 30,000 head below last year’s levels. And while overall beef cattle slaughter in the US has nearly recovered from Covid-19 caused processing slow-downs, an uptick in the US milk price during July impacted the volume of cow grinding beef on the market. Dairy farmers holding onto more cows caused cow slaughter in this sector to dip 10 per cent year-on-year, but with milk prices now on their way back down, these cattle are likely to hit the market sometime soon.

The latest export figures (July) show less Australian beef has headed to the US for the year-to-date compared to 2019, but this year’s volumes are still tracking above 2017 and 2018. 

Volumes for both June and July were actually above year-ago levels, picking up some of the slack from the significantly lower volumes going into China over the same period. The volume of Australian beef sold to the US in July was the highest since 2015. July data for the value of beef exports is not in yet, but June US export values were well above the five-year average, and again the highest figure since 2015.

What to watch?

Domestic cattle prices are maintaining their strength, but the EYCI-90CL price gap goes a long way to highlighting how out-of-pace Australian prices are compared to the global beef market.

The latest Steiner report out of the US points to strong competition for the 90CL market from areas such as South America and Ireland, where prices are currently lower than Aus. If the Australian dollar continues to rise, there’s risk of our beef being too pricey for our markets.

Have any questions or comments?

We love to hear from you!

Key Points

  • Australian beef export volumes and values into the US remain strong, despite stronger AUD.
  • EYCI at three-year-high premium to the US 90CL price as it hits a record 788.25c/kg.

Click on graph to expand

Click on graph to expand

Data sources: MLA, Mecardo, Steiner

Make decisions with confidence- ask about our board packs, bespoke forecasting and risk management services

Have any questions or comments?

We love to hear from you!
Cattle

Rain and Restockers return

A short selling week saw yardings down significantly, all cattle indicators had a lift in prices on the back of tighter supply. An increase in

Read More »
Cattle in feedlot
Cattle

Feed pens fuller yet again

Volatile market conditions for cattle didn’t scare the lot feeding sector into submission last year with yet more growth recorded for the final quarter. The

Read More »

Want market insights delivered straight to your inbox?

Sign up to the mailing list to get regular updates to new analysis and market outlooks

Independent analysis and outlook for wool, livestock and grain markets delivered to you as it’s published

Commodity conversations podcast cover image, a illustration of a sheep standing on a cow's back with grain either side
Listen to the podcast

Join the Mecardo team for the Commodity Conversations podcast, where we provide short weekly market recaps and longer conversations with guests to discuss the drivers and trends in livestock, grain and fibre markets.

Photo of a farmer surrounded by Merino sheep in dusty yards
Research: Analysis of the Australian sheep flock

In this report for LiveCorp and MLA, we analysed the historical trends in the demographics of the Australian sheep flock, examining domestic factors that influence farm-level enterprise decision making. 

Image of harvested grain pouring into a chaser bin
SERVICES AND CAPABILITIES STATEMENT BROCHURE

We don’t just bring you the most up to date market insights. Find out more about Mecardo’s services including risk management advisory, modelling, benchmarking, research & consultancy.