The sheep trade is starting the week in a steady manner, with quotes unchanged in the main.

The two Irish Country Meats plants in Camolin and Navan continue to offer producers the highest quotes of €8/kg plus 20c/kg quality assurance (QA) bonus, while Ballon Meats is offering an all-in price of €8.20/kg.

Groups trading through the plants are receiving returns at the higher end of the market ranging from €8.30/kg to €8.40/kg.

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Reports indicate that a couple of plants are trying to ease quotes, but are meeting resistance and struggling to secure deals, with some producers opting to trade elsewhere.

Kilkenny Mart

Mart sales held on Monday were mainly steady, with the exception of Kilkenny reporting prices reducing by €3 to €4/head. Prices there were trending above the average range in recent weeks.

Auctioneer George Candler reported a couple of lots of excellent-quality butcher-type lambs exceeding the €200/head mark, with 60kg lambs topping the lamb sale at €205 and 52kg selling for €201. Prices for lambs weighing 50kg to 52kg ranged from €173 to €187, influenced by quality.

Ennis Mart

Ennis Mart also reported a top price breaching the €200 mark, with 56.5kg lambs selling for €208/head, while a batch of seven quality lambs weighing 52kg hit €199. The average price of finished lambs was unchanged on the week at €3.68/kg.

The trade for stores was described as phenomenal, with prices for lighter lambs weighing 30kg to 37kg averaging above the €4/kg mark and ranging in the main from €4.10/kg to €4.50/kg and hitting a high point of €4.80/kg for a batch of 12 weighing 31kg.

Ewe trade

The mart trade seems to have firmed for ewes, with numbers in short supply.

Mart managers report a higher number of heavier ewes weighing from 85kg to 95kg-plus selling from €2.70/kg to €2.90/kg, with the best-quality lots topping the €3/kg mark.

Ewe quotes are unchanged in the factory, with a wide differential remaining from prices of €4.50/kg at the bottom end of the market and those at the higher end of the market ranging from €5/kg to €5.20/kg upwards.

Northern Ireland

Competition for lambs in Northern Ireland continues to be strongly influenced by buyers purchasing sheep for export to Britain.

Reports indicate that in the region of 4,500 sheep were exported to Britain last week, with over 3,500 more sheep exported to Ireland.

This is maintaining pressure on factories to compete on price, with base quotes in the region of £6.90/kg and sellers with keen negotiating power securing £7/kg and higher.