The lamb trade continues to strengthen, with base quotes up by 10c/kg to 20c/kg on last week.

Official quotes are still sparse, with just the two Irish Country Meats (ICM) Plants and Ballon Meats quoting.

ICM is offering a base of €7.50/kg plus 20c/kg quality assurance (QA) payment, with Ballon Meats quoting €7.60/kg all in.

Reports indicate that Kepak and Dawn are operating in the region of €7.60/kg for QA lambs, while Kildare Chilling appears to be 10c/kg higher.

Regular sellers and groups are securing returns of €7.80/kg for R grade lambs, with U grades knocking on the door of €8/kg when bonuses are included.

Reports indicate that while €8/kg has been paid, agents are working hard to limit this and are more willing to negotiate terms on weight limits of 23.5kg to 24kg or for lambs travelling significant distances to cover or part cover transport costs.

Lamb numbers remain tight, with some plants taking the decision to reduce days slaughtering.

Last week’s kill was recorded at just 42,115 head. Some will point out that one day’s less processing due to the Halloween holiday Monday underpinned reduced throughput.

But this is quickly dispelled when you consider the previous week’s kill was just over 2,000 head higher and throughput was over 9,000 head lower than the corresponding week in 2023.

Total throughput for the year to date has now surpassed over 230,000 fewer sheep.

Ewe trade

The ewe trade is also firming, although quotes are slow to move.

The majority of plants remain at a quote of €3.80/kg to €4/kg with more producers securing prices towards the higher end of this price range.

Ewe numbers have also tightened, with throughput currently running 30% to 40% below the norm.

Some sellers are also negotiating higher carcase weight limits where a small percentage of a batch are exceeding paid limits in place.

Regular sellers and those handling significant numbers are securing prices ranging from €4/kg to €4.20/kg, while top prices of €4.40/kg remain in plants or abattoirs specialising in the trade for top-quality ewes.

Northern Ireland

Throughput in factories in Northern Ireland has not been affected to the same extent as in Ireland.

Last week’s sheep kill was recorded at just over 10,000 head, over 700 lower than the previous week. Numbers exported south for direct slaughter totaling 5,418 head was about 1,200 lower on the week.

Base quotes are up by 10p/kg on last week, ranging from £6.20/kg to £6.25/kg or the equivalent of €7.46/kg to €7.52/kg. Reports indicate regular sellers and groups are securing 10p/kg to 20p/kg above base quotes.