This week: There is the time before the holidays, during the holidays and after the holidays. Each has its own laws and imposes different moods on the market. Whereas in the past it was only a question of supply and demand, and everyone formed a picture of the situation, today external factors, at least in our opinion, play a much more weighty role. Activity in the market itself has almost come to a standstill in Europe at the moment. Meat production is still going on and so hides and skins are still coming in, but basically the communication that normally forms market opinion has come to a standstill owing to the summer holidays.

In most cases, the industry has already planned its raw material deliveries until the end of August and thus, at least in Europe, very little is moving on the open market at the moment. Normally, producers here are busy looking after customers in Asia and they are usually happy to buy when they know that their potential competitors in Europe are all on holiday. It gives them the opportunity to secure a bargain here and there. At least in our case, this has hardly happened at all this year.

This naturally raises the question of why this is so. One possibility is that we are simply too expensive and our competitors have successfully taken advantage of the opportunities available and made more favourable offers and deals. Possibility number two is that goods from Europe in genera are too expensive and possibility number three is that the complications with demand and planning make it impossible for customers in Asia to buy in advance. We suspect it is a combination of possibilities two and three.

The news from China has not been optimistic for some time and the recent pandemic outbreaks, with the corresponding lockdowns, are also weighing heavily on sentiment. Corporate results and the global financial markets, on the other hand, are signalling a further continuation of recovery. Whether this will actually turn out to be the case when viewed rationally is something everyone must judge for themselves. Fundamentally, however, it is true that the housing market has very often been a reliable leading indicator.

This week’s sales were once again random. There are always isolated customers who find they still have a need, if only to fill gaps or cover surprise orders that come in. This week it was again heavy male hides and light cattle for which there was interest. We have decided not to change our prices and when the opportunity arises to sell at prices that have been in place for weeks, we have done so.

The kill: Although in our region the school holidays have already ended and, since last week, the holiday season can be considered over this is not reflected in meat consumption. The slaughter levels are rather smaller than in the weeks before, which is certainly more due to planning at the supermarkets rather than any strong change in demand. This will probably continue for a few more weeks before normality returns.

What do we expect: As long as neither the buyers nor the sellers resume work, little will change. Customers in Asia are extremely sensitive to the pandemic and, therefore, we do not expect any significant impulse-buying from there in the short term. Whether the routine business will be sufficient to keep production and prices stable will only become clear in a few weeks.

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