There has been very little movement in the sheep trade in the last week. All the export plants remain on a €5.20/kg base, with Moyvalley Meats and Ballon Meats leading quotes on an all-in quote of €5.40/kg.

With plants reluctant to let prices exceed €5.50/kg, the differential between the average and top prices paid has closed.

The majority of sellers are easily securing €5.40/kg, with most sellers with Bord Bia quality-assured (QA) lamb negotiating €5.45/kg to €5.50/kg.

A small number of sellers with larger numbers and greater negotiating power are securing €5.55/kg. This seems to be the upper limit plants are willing to pay, with no definite confirmation of higher achieved.

Factories have also taken the approach in some cases of doing without the lambs rather than paying higher. In other cases, plants have offered payment to 23.5kg to 24kg or allowances on transport to entice sales.

Weekly throughput has recovered by 1,229 head to reach 37,611 head, still significantly below the corresponding week in 2014 of 40,929.

Northern sheep continue to contribute over 15% to the weekly kill, with 6,143 sheep imported south in the last week.

This is a reduction on last week’s level, with entries reported as tightening significantly in the marts.

NI plants are also competing with southern buyers, with northern agents quoting £3.95 to £4.00/kg or the equivalent of €5.62/kg to €5.69/kg.

Solid ewe trade: The ewe trade is unchanged. Quotes range from €3.10/kg to €3.30/kg. Farmers with small numbers are securing €3.30/kg to €3.40/kg, while specialised finishers and dealers are reported as securing up to €3.60/kg to €3.70/kg for large volumes of ewes.

Factory agents remain very active in marts, with some managers reporting ewe numbers easing back, with a high percentage of scanned barren ewes having passed through the system. The differential in price also remains very tight.

Fleshed, slaughter-fit ewes are selling from €90 to €125 per head in general, with large-framed ewes killing over 40kg carcase weight selling from €120 to €140.

UK rebound: IFA National Sheep Committee chairman John Lynskey said the sheep trade remains solid with factories paying €5.50 to €5.55/kg to get lambs.

He said the trade has rebounded in the UK last week, with the live weight SQQ increasing to over £1.95/kg by the end of last week, equivalent to €5.80/kg. He said the UK factories are paying £4.16/kg deadweight, equivalent to €5.82/kg.