The impact of seasonal conditions on restocker interest has been the major driver of Australian cattle prices over the past 12 months and is continuing to make forecasts difficult, a NAB Agribusiness report says.
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But the bank said restocker interest was likely to keep prices up in the short term.
However the bank said a Bureau of Meteorology outlook for below average rain in key cattle regions with summer-dominant rainfall led it to predict the Eastern Young Cattle Indicator could fall below 500c/kilogram in 2018.
NAB Agribusiness economist Phin Ziebell said the bureau’s latest outlook for a drier than average summer in Queensland, the Northern Territory and northern New South Wales was likely to reflect negatively on cattle markets, if it came to pass.