It be been a file-breaking week for red meat. How much higher can prices amble?

What a week it has been for the red meat industry, with mark records tumbling for both cattle and lambs.

Unusual season lamb numbers are origin to shield in saleyards across Australia and the prices have been un-baa-lievable.

The National Trade Lamb Indicator (NTLI) went above 950-cents-a-kilogram carcass weight for the first time.

It follows a file at Wagga Wagga where a pen of latest season lambs sold for $331.20 each.

“As young lamb provide ramps up across the NSW saleyards and processors continue to dominate purchasing at the rail, supported by a mushy Aussie dollar and surging international demand, lamb prices have reached file ranges,” Meat and Farm animals Australia said.

Also this week, a consignment of twin-bearing Australian white ewes sold for a national commercial file of $1,210 each.

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Increasing US appetite for Aussie lamb

Despite points with shipping logistics, Australian lamb exports are up 5 per cent this year, with the United States the greatest customer so far in 2021, taking 41,776 tonnes (swt), which is up 21 per cent on the same time last year.

“I’m on the file saying lamb is the unusual Wagyu,” meat analyst Simon Quilty said.

“Now now not because of taste reasons, but because it in reality is starting to sit down down down in that area of interest terminate of the market, and being somewhat resistant to fluctuations as commodities amble up and down.

“Tubby credit to the US market, because they managed to gain a stable retail trade and industry around that and many Australian exporters have been a part of that success.

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Cattle prices upward thrust again

Wet weather this week, coupled with a definite spring outlook by the weather bureau, has fuelled an already red-hot cattle market.

The Eastern Younger Cattle Indicator (EYCI) surged again, hitting a unusual excessive of 1,031.52 c/kg (cwt).

“I by no means plan I may well gape the day where we saw the EYCI and restocker lambs crack 1,000 cents/kg (cwt) in the same week, it’s a sizable milestone,” said Stuart Bull, senior market analyst with Meat and Farm animals Australia.

“Now we have had constant competition between feedlots and the restockers for a while, and that’s now anticipated to continue as we gape heightened rainfall thru spring.”

“Now we have also considered heavy steer prices accumulate shut to a few file ranges, which shows there is silent [price] movement to amble all thru the provision chain, which is constant to instil self assurance in producers.”

Mr Quilty agrees there is silent room for prices to increase.

“I assume the challenge for any analyst has been attempting to grasp where the pause of the EYCI and NTLI goes, to be able to me I’ve almost given up on picking where the associated rate will amble,” he said.

Mr Quilty said a range of international factors had Australian pork producers in the field seat going forward together with:

• Argentina reducing pork exports by 50 per cent
• reduction in Brazil slaughter
• rising US cattle prices

“Analysts in America are now saying the [CME Live Cattle Futures] mark may perhaps amble as excessive as 25 per cent in April-May subsequent year, and so with rising US prices, it lifts Australian prices globally because we compete in 90 per cent of our markets with North America,” Mr Quilty said.