Sheep factories are working close to peak processing capacity this week as they target a sharp lift in output for the Eid al-Adha festival, which begins on Tuesday 21 August and ends on Saturday 25 August.

Last week’s kill was recorded at 58,209 head with a day’s less processing reducing throughput by about 5,000 head. The kill was still 5,973 sheep ahead of the same week in 2017 and it is expected that this week’s kill will rival or maybe even surpass last year’s peak weekly throughput of 72,889 head with farmers targeting this week to move lambs.

Lamb throughput

Factories have been focusing on lamb throughput with a number of plants not processing ewes this week or only handling limited throughput. Their appetite is holding strong heading into next week with quotes remaining unchanged at a base of €4.90/kg to €5/kg.

The majority of sheep are trading from €5/kg to €5.10/kg with small numbers either side of this price range.

Live exporters were also busy in the last 10 days in sourcing ram lambs, in particular, for export to continental EU markets including France, Belgium, Netherlands and Italy.

Reports indicate prices are ranging from €2.20/kg to €2.30/kg.