New Zealand lamb legs need to be on the boat by the end of the month if they want to be on plates for Easter.

According to AHDB, Easter 2020 will see a New Zealand lamb presence on the shelves, but less than usual. Many contracts for Easter supply are signed six months in advance which will have secured some volume.

However, New Zealand farmgate prices are continuing at a high level. Continued strong demand in China and global supply tightening all point towards a reduction in New Zealand lamb coming to the UK.

Beef and Lamb New Zealand forecasts that total export volumes of sheepmeat will be steady year-on-year in the current production cycle but that prices will again rise.

Rebecca Oborne, market analysist at AHDB, said: “Recent developments on the global sheepmeat market have tightened supply, in particular the wildfires in Australia. Around a quarter of Australia’s sheep live in areas impacted by fires, although that is not say all these sheep have been lost.

“It will take many months for that figure to become clear. There will be some impact on production volumes.”

So why is this relevant to the UK? Australia does not send large volumes to us, having limited access, but New Zealand does, and has many common markets with Australia.

If China and other Asian markets can’t source sufficient product from Australia then they are most likely to look to increase shipments from New Zealand. It is from this end of the chain where the UK may feel some impact.”