Bidding wars for lambs as prices knock on door of €7/kg

Lamb prices have increased by 20c/kg on average over the last week, with top prices paid now knocking on the door of €7/kg.

The record price for the time of year is €1.20/kg, on average, above the corresponding week in 2020 or in the region of €30/head on a 22kg carcase.

Base quotes for this week range on average from €6.40/kg to €6.60/kg, with Kildare Chilling continuing to set the pace with its quote of €6.60/kg, plus a 10c/kg quality assurance bonus.

The reality is there is no sheep trading at the lower quotes, with individual sellers securing returns of €6.65/kg to €6.75/kg midweek, while producer groups and producers/agents trading at the higher end of the market are securing a return of €6.85/kg to €6.90/kg.

Approaches

Factory agents are scouring the country for lambs and there are widespread reports of agents approaching producers outside of their normal catchment area, which is leading to factories becoming embroiled in bidding wars.

The mart trade has also burst into life with the online sales platforms also providing an opportunity for buyers to trade outside of their normal catchment area.

Heavy lambs weighing upwards of 50kg are breaching the €150/head mark with greater frequency as the week progresses, with prices ranging in the main from €150 to €157 and hitting as high as €160/head in isolated cases.

Insatiable demand from factories is underpinning upward price momentum with supplies coming on to the market failing to satisfy their appetite. This is being driven by lower production across the EU, with UK sheep throughput also significantly lower.

UK lamb kill

The UK lamb kill for September of just over 1m head was 11% lower than in 2020.

Quotes in Northern Ireland plants range from £5.15/kg to £5.20/kg (€6.11/kg to €6.17/kg) with 10p/kg higher going.

British lamb prices are in the region of £5.40/kg to £5.50/kg (€6.40/kg to €6.50/kg) and climbing.