Market indicators

Western Australian cattle prices have been relatively strong so far during 2015. This may be, in part, due to increasing international demand outstripping supply, but also aligns with the strong prices reported in eastern Australia. As illustrated in Table 1 below, the major West Australian cattle indicators have been above the 95th percentile during September 2015, other than feeder vealers which didn’t report any sales during September.

Prices for feeder yearling cattle in WA have been stronger in 2015 than any of the past three years. This has been the case for each month to date in 2015 as seen in Figure 12. In January of 2015 the feeder yearling price was 224 cents/kg which then rose to 298 cents/kg in June before backing off slightly in July, but powered ahead to 299 cent/kg in September. This is 87 cents/kg higher than at the same time during 2014.

Figure 12 Trend in Western Australian feeder yearling saleyard indicator (cents/kg liveweight) (Based on data from MLA/NLRS, analysed by DAFWA)

The sale yard indicator for heavy cows in Western Australia during 2015 has also been very strong, remaining higher than it has been over the last three years (Figure 13). In January of 2015 the price for heavy cows was 213 cents/kg rising to 232 cents/kg in February. It then fell to 201 cents/kg in June before climbing to 214 cents/kg in September 2015. Whilst the September price is lower than earlier in the year, it is still 36 cents higher than at the same time during 2014.

Figure 13 Trend in the Western Australian heavy cow sale yard indicator (cents/kg liveweight) (Based on data from MLA/NLRS, analysed by DAFWA)