The lamb trade is static, with the factory and mart trade unchanged on last week.

The main factories continue to quote a base price of €7.90/kg plus their 20c/kg quality assurance (QA) payment.

This leaves opening prices at €8.10/kg, but a high percentage of sellers are receiving prices in the region of €8.15/kg to €8.20/kg.

Producer groups are trading on average at €8.20/kg, with some farmers receiving €8.30/kg by means of a higher payment agreement or for U grading lambs where a higher payment is built-in for such lambs.

Regular sellers are also having some success in securing €8.25/kg to €8.30/kg, but this is reserved for sellers handling significant numbers and with a good producer-processor relationship.

Supplies are balanced with demand and agents are exhibiting a lukewarm appetite for higher numbers.

This is also evident in mart sales where there is no urgency to compete with greater intensity.

A significant differential remains between marts, with an active wholesale or butcher trade and those relying on factory agent buying.

At the top end of the market, lambs weighing upwards of 52kg to 55kg are trading from €188 to €200, while similar-weight lambs are trading in marts reliant on factory buyers from €177 to €186 with select lots exceeding this range.

Ewe trade

The ewe trade is steady, with a significant differential also remaining between factories with less activity in the ewe trade and those specialising in ewe sales.

The latter plants are quoting a price of €5/kg, while plants with lower activity are quoting €4.30/kg to €4.50/kg.

Northern Ireland

Factories continue to try to purchase lambs at a base price of £6.85/kg to £6.90/kg (€7.97/kg to €8.03/kg) following last week’s drop in base quotes of 10p/kg to 15p/kg.

Reports indicate that regular sellers and those alternating between slaughtering lambs in Northern Ireland and exporting live are still negotiating prices of upwards of £7/kg.