Sheep Trends: lamb quotes suffer another 50c/kg cut

Lamb quotes remain in freefall, with base quotes for Thursday falling by 50c/kg on last week’s level.

The cuts occurred in two stages, with plants pulling prices by 20c/kg over the weekend, followed by another 30c/kg on Thursday.

Ballon Meats’ all-in quote of €8/kg for Thursday is well above competing plants which are trying to pull prices to a base of €7.50/kg.

The two Irish Country Meats plants are quoting a base price of €7.50 plus their 20c/kg quality assurance (QA) bonus.

The other remaining plants continue to offer no official quote, but reports indicate they are trying to pull prices to a similar base quote.

Starting prices for lambs traded on Wednesday were in the region of €7.70/kg to €7.80/kg, with regular sellers and groups negotiating upwards of €8/kg.

Reports indicate such sellers are finding it hard to secure upwards of €7.80/kg to €7.90/kg for Thursday.

Factories cite poor demand and pressure on prices in key export markets as the cause of recent sharp cuts. This is despite throughput running well below the norm for the time of year.

Last week’s kill was recorded at just 44,022 head. This is over 18,000 lower than the corresponding week in 2023, with year-to-date throughput falling to over 165,000 head lower.

The kill included 37,492 lambs and just 2,471 hoggets.

Plants continue to handle hoggets, with prices falling by another 50c/kg and ranging anywhere from €6/kg to €7/kg, depending on the type of hogget on hand and the producer-processor relationship.

A significant number of hoggets are being drafted from specialist finishers with greater negotiating power.

Demand for hoggets is also helped by low throughput of ewes and rams.

The number of ewes and rams slaughtered last week was recorded at just 4,055 head, over 1,500 lower than the corresponding week in 2023.

Factory quotes range in the main from €3.90/kg to €4/kg, with Kildare Chilling increasing its quote for heavy ewes by 10c/kg.

Keen demand for quality ewes is reflected in Ballon Meats’ quote of €4.40/kg.

The mart trade has firmed in the last week, providing a good alternative outlet for producers struggling to negotiate.

Northern trade

Northern factories have also moved to inflict sharp cuts, with base prices for Thursday down 60p/kg to 70p/kg on the week.

Base prices for Thursday range from £6/kg to £6.10/kg or the equivalent of approximately €7.05/kg to €7.15/kg.

Sellers trading lambs on Wednesday secured 20p/kg to 30p/kg above this, but plants are said to be trying to curtail top prices to 10p/kg to 20p/kg above base quotes.

Last week’s sheep kill increased by over 800 head to reach 7,535, which is still relatively low for the time of year. Exports south for direct slaughter fell by 1,300 to about 3,600.