Lamb prices averaged £2.23/kg for medium-weight lambs at Scottish marts last week, a fall of 5p/kg on the week. Heavy lambs are also making a good trade at £2.18/kg – a 52kg lamb is over £113/head. Strong prices seem to be pulling more lambs onto the market, with 23,214 through marts last week – up over 4,000 on the week.

Ewe trade rose, with the average ewe making £65/head in Scottish marts, Australia may be looking to increase its access to Europe after fulfilling nearly all the current quota for the last three years. Currently, Australia can send just over 19,000t of sheep meat to the EU, with about 80% of it going to the UK. Meanwhile, New Zealand (which has the highest allocation of 228,000t of tarrif-free sheep meat access) fulfilled only 62% of its quota in 2017, which is down 14% on the year.

Interestingly, Norway, which has an allocation of 300t, has already filled its quota in 2018. Meanwhile, there are still a number of Erga Omnes quotas which all World Trade Organisation members can send lamb through. These are for very small volumes, but appear to be filling up quickly for the 2018 allowance.