The latest Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) market report shows British lamb prices running at their highest level since 2011 for the time of year.
Prices for the week ending 23 November increased 14.2p/kg to reach £4.22/kg. This is the equivalent of €4.95/kg at Friday afternoon’s exchange rate of 85.3p to the euro and excluding VAT.
After a challenging year, lamb prices have rallied in recent weeks.
Similar to Ireland, the trade has been gaining momentum as factories struggle to source adequate numbers to fill Christmas orders.
The increase in price is positive for Irish farmers, as it maintains competitiveness in export markets. The tightness in supply is being driven by a sharp rise in throughput for the first nine months of the year, with farmers moving higher numbers ahead of the October Brexit deadline, while imports from New Zealand have been running at a much lower level, with China accounting for a rapidly growing percentage of New Zealand sheepmeat exports.
UK sheep exports
This is reflected in UK sheep exports in September rising 16% to reach 9,000t, as reported by AHDB Red Meat analyst Rebecca Oborne, with quarter-three exports of 23,500t up 12% year on year.
Imports in the same month fell 35% year on year to 2,800t, while quarter-three imports were 34% lower at 11,100t.
This has left supplies much tighter and left processors having to increase price to attract lambs forward. It had the desired effect in the latest weekly kill, with last week’s throughput rising 18,000 head on the previous week to reach 288,700.
Rebecca Oborne reports the store lamb trade is also trending higher, with average prices of £60/head (€70/head) for the week ending 23 November. She says the higher prices suggest store buyers are expecting a higher lamb price in spring 2020.
Read more
Sheep trends: 20c/kg lift brings top quote to €5.00/kg
China driving record global sheepmeat prices
The latest Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) market report shows British lamb prices running at their highest level since 2011 for the time of year.
Prices for the week ending 23 November increased 14.2p/kg to reach £4.22/kg. This is the equivalent of €4.95/kg at Friday afternoon’s exchange rate of 85.3p to the euro and excluding VAT.
After a challenging year, lamb prices have rallied in recent weeks.
Similar to Ireland, the trade has been gaining momentum as factories struggle to source adequate numbers to fill Christmas orders.
The increase in price is positive for Irish farmers, as it maintains competitiveness in export markets. The tightness in supply is being driven by a sharp rise in throughput for the first nine months of the year, with farmers moving higher numbers ahead of the October Brexit deadline, while imports from New Zealand have been running at a much lower level, with China accounting for a rapidly growing percentage of New Zealand sheepmeat exports.
UK sheep exports
This is reflected in UK sheep exports in September rising 16% to reach 9,000t, as reported by AHDB Red Meat analyst Rebecca Oborne, with quarter-three exports of 23,500t up 12% year on year.
Imports in the same month fell 35% year on year to 2,800t, while quarter-three imports were 34% lower at 11,100t.
This has left supplies much tighter and left processors having to increase price to attract lambs forward. It had the desired effect in the latest weekly kill, with last week’s throughput rising 18,000 head on the previous week to reach 288,700.
Rebecca Oborne reports the store lamb trade is also trending higher, with average prices of £60/head (€70/head) for the week ending 23 November. She says the higher prices suggest store buyers are expecting a higher lamb price in spring 2020.
Read more
Sheep trends: 20c/kg lift brings top quote to €5.00/kg
China driving record global sheepmeat prices
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: