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The sheep trade is starting the week in a slow manner.
Factories are cautious in their purchasing activity as they wait to see how the trade settles following the ending of the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha. Reports suggest throughput held strong right up until the end of last week and, with no processing on Monday, this has reduced the intensity at which sheep are being traded.
A number of factories are not quoting for lambs for Tuesday while others have moved to pull back price towards €5.00/kg. Lambs purchased at the end of last week for slaughter early this week are generally trading from €5.10/kg to €5.20/kg, with the odd deal higher by means of group or producer bonuses and where there are relevant allowances on transport.
High throughput
Throughput over the last two weeks has averaged in excess of 70,000 head. Prior to this the kill was also running well above normal levels, with throughput in the region of 63,000 to 65,000 head for the preceding six- to seven-week period.
This, combined with the fact that producers kept lambs moving at lighter weights to take advantage of price, should see a slowdown in lamb drafting in the coming weeks and help to alleviate any pressure coming from continued high throughput.
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