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It is hard to find many bright aspects in the sheep trade in recent weeks, with producer confidence taking a hit due to prolonged price pressure.
The trade appears to have steadied, but at a low level, with price pressure still present.
Quotes in Kepak Athleague and Dawn Meats reduced 5c/kg in the week.
Kepak is quoting a base of €4.50/kg, the same as Kildare Chilling, with Dawn on a base of €4.45/kg, with ICM 5c/kg lower at €4.40/kg. Meanwhile, Moyvalley Meats and Ballon are quoting an all-in price of €4.60/kg.
General prices paid range from €4.55/kg to €4.60/kg, with some regular sellers and producer groups securing an additional 5c/kg to 10c/kg by means of their pricing mechanism, with top prices rising to €4.70/kg or a shade higher.
At the bottom of the market, there are a small number of deals starting at €4.50/kg for deals involving small numbers and non-quality assured (QA) lamb.
The factory price pressure is also being reflected in a tough mart trade, although there is good demand for top-quality fleshed lambs with a significant number of those on offer being forward stores or lambs lacking the potential to achieve a good kill-out.
This also continues to be an issue with lambs going direct for slaughter, with factories reporting a big difference in slaughter performance, driven by the area lambs are coming from (big range in weather and grass dry matter) and the level of meal feeding taking place.
Supplies are holding strong, with last week’s kill recorded at 66,810 head. Ewe and ram throughout, at 12,362 head, remains high, with factories taking steps to manage throughout and putting sales off in cases for a few days.
Northern sheep imports continue to make up a significant percentage of throughout, with 8,752 sheep coming south for direct slaughter, an increase of 618 head on last week’s levels.
Northern quotes are £3.65/kg to £3.70/kg, which at Wednesday’s exchange rate of 89.3p to the euro is the equivalent of €4.30/kg to €4.37/kg including VAT at 5.4%. Top prices are 5p/kg to 8p/kg higher. Last week’s northern sheep kill took a big jump, with 12,161 lambs processed, an increase of 2,542 head on the previous week. The ewe and ram kill also increased, rising from 714 to 898.
Meanwhile, there is no change in the ewe trade in southern plants. Most plants are quoting €2.40/kg with top prices of €2.55/kg to €2.60/kg.
IFA national sheep committee chair John Lynskey said: “Factories are paying €4.60 to €4.70 for lambs with some top prices of €4.75 being paid. The trade for mountain and hill store lambs is very challenging at the moment. However, with current prices, there are good opportunities for store buyers.”
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