Primary sheep producers are being dealt a succession of heavy blows with lamb prices falling by the day since the end of last week.

Prices of €5.25/kg to €5.40/kg were secured by sellers on Thursday and Friday but, as more pressure came on the trade over the weekend, sellers found it difficult to negotiate above €5.10/kg to €5.15/kg for Monday.

Sellers negotiating on Tuesday and booking lambs for Wednesday’s kill also met further price cuts, with the base price falling to €5.00/kg in most plants and a plant in the midlands offering a base as low as €4.80/kg, excluding bonuses. Many sellers negotiated €4.90/kg while at the higher end of the market some sellers negotiated €5.00/kg to €5.10/kg by means of producer bonuses or having sold lambs forward in previous days.

The outlook for the remainder of the week is also not optimistic. As can be seen in the lamb quotes table, base quotes have fallen to €4.80/kg for today (Thursday), with two plants not quoting. This leaves prices 45c to 50c/kg behind the equivalent week in 2015.

To compound a bad price, some plants are not taking in lambs until next week. Processors point to the dynamics of supply and demand as contributing to the fall in prices.

Last week’s kill increased over 7,000 head to 61,110 sheep with processors reporting very weak demand in export markets.

IFA National Sheep Committee chair John Lynskey has criticised the actions of processors, saying the price cuts are unjustified. He said: “Bord Bia reported prices in Britain earlier this week at £1.74/kg, equivalent to €5.48/kg, and French price returns for Grade 1 Irish lamb at €5.10/kg to €5.20/kg excluding VAT.

“It is clear factories are jumping ahead of the market and could have avoided going below €5.00/kg. Despite lower quotes, some factories had committed to paying some farmers €5.20 to €5.30/kg into Thursday and Friday this week.”

Weaker NI trade: The trade in Northern Ireland has also come under pressure, with a 20p/kg to 25p/kg fall in quotes over the last week. NI plants are quoting a base of £3.20/kg to £3.25/kg or the equivalent of €4.72/kg to €4.80/kg, with some sellers securing £3.30/kg (€4.87/kg). The NI kill has also increased about 2,000 head to 10,824 lambs in a similar pattern to 2014. The number of lambs exported south for direct slaughter is also following a similar upward trend, with 4,701 lambs imported last week.

Firm ewe trade: The ewe trade in marts and factories remains relatively firm. Most plants are quoting €2.80/kg with deals involving small numbers rising to €2.90/kg to €3.00/kg. Reports suggest some agents are extracting another 15c/kg to 20c/kg from the market which is backed up by a very strong mart trade.