Base lamb quotes for Thursday are 20c/kg lower week on week following another cut of 20c/kg inflicted at the start of the week.

The two ICM plants in Camolin and Navan are offering base quotes of €6.80/kg.

Kildare Chilling makes a welcome return to the quotes table after a two-week absence and is offering a base quote of €6.90/kg, which the plant says is for Thursday only.

A high percentage of producers are securing returns of €6.95/kg to €7.00/kg for quality assured lambs, while groups and sellers with greater negotiating power are extracting an extra 10c/kg to 15c/kg from the market and possibly more when conformation bonuses are factored into the price.

Tight numbers

Reports indicate numbers in the market are tight and that agents have marginally stepped up their purchasing activity in recent days to compensate for many producers opting to wean lambs or delay drafting to come closer to upper carcase weight limits.

There appears to be some signs of markets stabilising, which is being helped by lower volumes and higher-priced UK product on the EU market.

Last week’s kill was recorded by the Department of Agriculture at 54,077 head, a drop of 24,408 sheep on the previous week.

This included a higher ewe and ram kill of 8,658 head, with plants having a backlog in the system after prioritising lamb throughput in the previous week.

Downward pressure

This has provided agents with an opportunity to insert some downward pressure on the trade, with quotes falling by 30c/kg to 50c/kg and averaging in the region of €3.50/kg to €3.60/kg.

Regular sellers are still securing 10c/kg to 20c/kg above opening quotes and agents purchasing ewes in mart sales remain keen, albeit trying to purchase ewes at a lower price.

Lamb quotes are running 60c/kg to 80c/kg above the corresponding week in 2021, while ewe quotes were 20c/kg lower in 2021.

Northern trade

There was a similarly sharp fall-off in the sheep kill in plants in Northern Ireland.

Last week’s sheep kill was recorded at 7,157 head, equating to a reduction of 2,922 on the previous week. The fall occurred solely in lambs / hoggets, with the low throughput figure of 282 ewes and rams only deviating by eight sheep on the previous week.

The main outlet for ewes in 2022 has been exporting live for direct slaughter or subsequent live selling in Britain or for direct slaughter in Irish plants.

Plants have also moved to pull prices sharply, with base quotes for Thursday around the £5.50/kg mark or the equivalent of €6.57/kg at Wednesday afternoon’s exchange rate of 85.2p to the euro.

This is a fall of 50p/kg on the week or £10 (€11.70) on a 20kg carcase. Quotes are running about 80p/kg (94c/kg) ahead of the corresponding week in 2021.