Prices for fleshed lambs in mart sales have weakened by an average of €2 to €4/head.

Mart managers report that agents are still keen for lambs and are slow to let any lambs home unsold, but at the same time are slower to compete with other buyers.

The weakening in the trade is stemming from an easing of 10c/kg to 15c/kg in factory price quotes.

Well-fleshed lowland lambs weighing upwards of 50kg are trading from €96 to €100 over the weight, with select lots of top-quality lambs rising to €103 to €104 over the weight.

The higher prices have generally been seen where there is a strong presence of butcher buyers ringside. Similar-weight lambs lacking flesh or poorer in quality are falling back to €87 to €90 over the weight.

There is a similar price trend for lambs weighing 47kg to 49kg, with quality and kill-out potential having a significant say on prices paid.

Demand for ewe lambs of breeding quality has cooled in recent weeks, with a premium of €3 to €5 above the going rate generally capable of buying the majority of these types.

The store lamb trade is slightly easier, with the easing in factory prices also denting the confidence of finishers.

Average prices for good-quality short-keep store lambs weighing over 40kg generally range from €2.70/kg to €2.90/kg, with crossbred and hill types back to €2.40/kg to €2.50/kg for plainer-quality lambs short of flesh.

It is a similar story for lambs weighing 36kg to 40kg, but lighter lambs are meeting a mixed trade, with a lower appetite to purchase long-keep lambs requiring significant feeding reported by some mart managers.

Scottish Blackface lambs remain a challenging trade.

Light lambs are trading from €1.70/kg to €1.90/kg for average-quality types, with better-quality lambs weighing upwards of 30kg selling in cases to €2/kg to €2.20/kg.

The cull ewe trade is also mixed. The majority of ewes weighing around 85kg to 90kg continue to trade from €120 to €145/head, while select sales have seen isolated prices ranging anywhere from €160 to €200 for small numbers of top-quality heavy ewes.