The sheep trade continues to edge upwards, despite agents in some areas trying to curtail expectations with reports of demand reducing following the ending of the Ramadan festival.

Any cooling off was short-lived, with factories keen to fill orders for the Easter trade.

Hogget and lamb quotes have increased by 10c/kg to 20c/kg for Thursday, with the two Irish Country Meats (ICM) plants in Camolin and Navan continuing to lead the trade.

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Their base quote for hoggets is up 20c/kg to €8.80/kg plus their 20c/kg quality assurance (QA) payment.

This lifts hoggets traded through producer groups and from regular sellers to €9.10/kg and higher.

Dawn Kildare has increased its quote by 10c/kg since the start of the week and is quoting €8.70/kg plus 10c/kg QA, while Ballon Meats is quoting €8.80/kg.

Reports indicate that most sellers with good negotiating power are securing €9/kg-plus, with similar reports from plants not offering an official quote.

There are some reports of an extra 0.5kg carcase weight allowance being offered to finalise deals but this is a rarity.

The lamb trade is also moving upwards, with ICM’s quotes of €9.80/kg plus 20c/kg QA putting quality assured lambs on an opening price of €10/kg. The only other quote is Dawn Kildare at €9.60/kg plus 10c/kg QA.

Numbers are relatively tight in the market despite the increase in price, with last week’s kill just over 40,000 head.

Factories hope to handle higher numbers in the coming week and are exhibiting variable interest in spring lambs.

Reports also suggest that quality is becoming a greater factor in price and agents are cautioning as to deductions for under-fleshed hoggets.

The ewe trade has jumped again, with ICM’s quote up 30c/kg to €5.30/kg, while Ballon Meats has regained its position as the top ewe price offering following an increase of 40c/kg to €5.40/kg.

Reports indicate that prices ranging from 20c/kg to 30c/kg higher are going for large numbers of quality ewes, while at the top end of the market, those buyers most active in the live trade would need a far higher figure to have any hope of returning a margin over cost price.

Northern Ireland

Factories in Northern Ireland continue to offer a higher price than their southern counterparts. Base quotes for Thursday are up 10p/kg to 20p/kg to £8.10/kg or the equivalent of €9.34/kg with no VAT included.

Regular sellers continue to command 10p/kg to 20p/kg above base quotes to ward off interest from agents purchasing sheep for export to Britain and Ireland.

Prices in Britain are powering ahead, with top returns for hoggets from £8.60/kg to £8.80/kg (€9.87 to €10.15/kg).

The ewe trade is also booming with higher numbers of ewes being exported from Northern Ireland to sales in Britain.