Offal prices have been in decline since the start of this year despite the significant uplift in beef prices, latest Bord Bia data suggests.

While there are no published prices for Irish or EU hides or by-products, there are regular reports on the offal trade available from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

This data is displayed on the Bord Bia Beef Beef Market Tracker under the US by-product market indicator section.

When the USDA offal price data is translated to a price/kg carcass weight, this figure has fallen from just under 39c/kg in January to just over 31c/kg at the start of June this year indicating a fall of approximately 8c/kg.

The by-products are classed into three different categories:

Hide;
Red Offals: Tongue, liver, tail, etc.;
White Offals: Tripes, fats, etc.

Despite the lack of information on the European offal trade, these are globally traded commodities.

Therefore, Bord Bia has previously said that the US data provides “a reasonable reflection” of market trends but that EU returns for offal tend to be somewhat lower, due to market access and the EU ban on meat and bone meal and blood meal in animal feed.

Interestingly, the data shows that hide prices have halved in the past year from the equivalent of 6c/kg in June 2024 to 3c/kg at the start of June this year.

On a per kg carcass weight basis, red offal prices have remained steady year-on-year at 16c/kg, while white offal prices have fallen by 2c/kg since last June to 13c/kg.

This leaves the overall by-product prices down 5c/kg since last June, standing at 32c/kg in the week ending Sunday June 8, according to the market indicator data sourced from the USDA.