The sheep trade is starting the week in a steady manner, with factories keen to maximise throughput and satisfy strong demand for the religious festivals of Easter and Ramadan.

Reports indicate that last week’s sheep kill is on target to match the previous week’s throughput, where some 67,085 sheep were slaughtered.

Prices on offer are unchanged since the end of last week, with hogget base quotes ranging from €6.55/kg to €6.70/kg and paid prices ranging from €6.80/kg to €7.00/kg for quality assured hoggets.

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Prices at the upper end of the range are typically being achieved by producers or agents handling large numbers with those trading at the top end of the market securing in excess of €7/kg.

Non-quality assured hoggets are, in cases, trading back to €6.70/kg, with sellers in a position to negotiate above base quotes but not rival prices at the higher end of the market.

Paid weight limits remain at 23kg in the main processing plants, with some wholesale-type plants offering an extra 0.5kg to secure sales.

Spring lambs

Demand has increased for spring lambs, but they remain a very small component of the kill relative to hoggets.

Base quotes are in the region of €7.40/kg to €7.50/kg, with payments for quality assured lamb lifting returns to €7.60/kg.

At the top end of the market, there is 10c/kg to 15c/kg higher being paid for lambs traded through groups and commanding a conformation payment.

The weight limit is typically 20kg, but the two ICM plants and some wholesale-orientated factories are paying to 20.5kg carcase weight.

There is also limited demand for milk lamb, with prices reported in the region of €9/kg. The paid weight range here is generally from 10kg to 14kg carcase weight.

There is some scope to exceed the upper weight figure, but payment will cease at the cut-off points.

More life for ewes

There is more life in the trade for ewes and this is especially evident in a lively mart trade.

Factory quotes range in the main from €3.20/kg to €3.40/kg, but up to €3.60/kg to €3.70/kg is being paid by plants most active for top-quality ewes.

Prices at the top end of the market for large consignments of ewes purchased for export to fill niche market orders are reported as high as €4/kg. This sheds some light into the strength of the mart trade for heavy top-quality ewes.