Factories have had more success over the last week in negotiations on lamb price and have managed to reduce prices by in the region of 15c/kg to 20c/kg.

Their cause has been helped by numbers coming on stream increasing significantly over the last two weeks and reducing the pressure on agents to compete for lambs.

Factories are still keen for sheep, but the timing of the spike in throughput has afforded them an opportunity to fill orders for the Christmas trade in advance of the trade winding down over the Christmas period.

Base quotes

Base quotes have fallen below the €7.00/kg mark, with prices paid to individual sellers with low negotiating power starting at this level for quality assured lambs.

Regular sellers and producer groups are securing returns of €7.10/kg to €7.20/kg, while prices at the top end of the market are in the region of €7.30/kg or slightly higher where specialist finishers have tied in to deals to supply sheep between Christmas and the new year.

Mart trade

The mart trade has also eased over the last week, but a differential has opened up between factory lambs and butcher or wholesale buyers.

At the top end of the market, select lots of excellent-quality U and E grading continental lambs weighing 51kg to 53kg upwards are trading from €168 to €172/head, with numbers of these type of lambs in tight supply.

Fleshed factory-type lambs weighing 50kg to 53kg are typically trading from €157 to €163/head, with lots with a poorer cover of flesh selling back to the low-€150s.

Lighter lambs weighing 47kg to 49kg are trading on average from €148 to €158, depending on flesh cover.