The sheep trade has benefited greatly from religious festivals in recent week, with the ending of the Islamic festival of Ramadan delivering another price boost this week.

Demand has been bolstered by a combination of tight supplies in Ireland, the UK and other EU countries and low reserves in the marketplace due to positive sales for the Easter trade.

This has witnessed factories increase their purchasing activity in recent days, with agents working hard over the weekend and on Monday to try to entice higher numbers forward.

Kildare Chilling and the two Irish Country Meats (ICM) plants in Camolin and Navan have increased quotes for Tuesday to a base of €7.20/kg plus their respective 10c/kg and 20c/kg quality assurance (QA) payments.

Tuesday-only quotes

The plants have cautioned that quotes are for Tuesday only and that prices as the week progresses will be dictated by market demand as buying for Ramadan subsides.

Reports indicate other plants are willing to follow suit and match prices, especially for significant numbers.

The increase in base quotes has lifted prices paid to regular sellers and groups to €7.40/kg to €7.50/kg, with some plants paying larger batches to 23.5kg and using this as a point of differentiation in negotiations.

Lamb trade

Lamb prices have also increased in line with hoggets. Kildare Chilling has increased its quote by 20c/kg to a base of €7.90/kg plus its 10c/kg QA payment, while the two ICM plants have increased their quotes by 5c/kg to the same €7.90/kg base.

However, the two ICM plants are offering a 10c/kg higher QA payment and an extra 0.5kg carcase weight allowance.

Hoggets continue to dominate throughput, with spring lambs making up a small percentage of the weekly kill figures.

Ewes and lambs are also in tight supply and significant variation remains between prices quoted by the main factories, smaller processing units and live trade returns.

Quotes range from €3.30/kg to €3.60/kg in the main, but up to €4/kg and higher has been paid for large numbers of ewes delivered to a very tight specification.