The sheep trade is starting the week in a steady manner, with quotes for Monday unchanged on last week.

Base lamb quotes range in the main from €7.95/kg to €8.10/kg, with Kildare Chilling continuing to offer the highest base quotes.

Producers trading there are being offered €8.20/kg for quality assured (QA) lamb without any negotiating and this is setting the benchmark entry price to the market.

Some plants are offering lower opening quotes and, according to mart managers, this is working to their favour in some cases in attracting numbers that may normally otherwise go direct from farm to factory.

Higher carcase limits

Groups and regular sellers are securing returns ranging from €8.20/kg to €8.30/kg for lambs satisfying tight specification, while there are also reports of agents and those handling large numbers securing prices above this range and allowances on higher carcase weight limits.

Lamb prices in mart sales are in the region of €168 to €175 for heavier lots weighing 48kg to 50kg upwards, with a small selection generating strong bidding by butchers selling to €178 to €180.

Good-quality lambs weighing 43kg to 46kg are selling anywhere from €160 to €170, again depending on their kill-out potential, while lighter lots weighing 40kg to 42kg are starting in the region of €150/head for plainer-quality lots rising to the mid- to high-€150s.

Hogget quotes

Hogget quotes continue to range from €7.00/kg to €7.20/kg.

Specialist finishers and agents with strong negotiating power continue to secure prices well in excess of quotes, with top prices generally recorded at €7.40/kg to €7.50/kg.

Demand for cull ewes is firm, with quotes ranging from €3.80/kg to €4.00/kg.

Agents and dealers handling large numbers continue to secure 20c/kg to 30c/kg above the going trade, while live exporters remain very active in mart sales.