The regional variation in the sheep trade which has been apparent for the last week to 10 days continues. Both Irish Country Meats plants were operating at optimum capacity to meet a sharp increase in demand for the Eid al-Adha festival. Ballon Meats and Moyvalley Meats were also unaffected by the protests, but Kildare Chilling’s kill was disrupted.

Demand remained strong over the weekend and into the early part of the week, with a wide differential of €4.75/kg to €4.95/kg reported.

The lower prices were for sellers with lower negotiating power or non-quality assured (QA) sheep, with the higher prices ranging from €4.80/kg to €4.95/kg paid to producer groups and those handling large numbers.

Quotes for Thursday have reduced 10c/kg on last week in ICM and Kildare Chilling to respective bases of €4.50/kg and €4.70/kg. Ballon Meats’ quote for lambs has eased 5c/kg to an all-in quote of €4.65/kg, while Moyvalley Meats is steady at an all-in quote of €4.70/kg. The two plants in the west, Kepak Athleague and Dawn Ballyhaunis, were most disrupted during the protests, with their throughput severely reduced. As a consequence, both are now working through a significant backlog of sheep and are not quoting for Thursday.

The disruption to the kill is reflected in last week’s figures, which were recorded at 50,555 head. This compares with a kill of over 75,000 sheep in the corresponding week in 2018, although one day’s less processing on Monday also has be factored in.

IFA sheep chair Sean Dennehy is advising farmers to bargain hard.

“Factories are paying €4.70/kg to €4.80/kg in general, with some top prices up to €4.85 to €4.90 including bonuses. Farmers should reject the lower quoted prices and insist on 21.5kg carcase weight.”

The higher activity that was reported last week from buyers purchasing sheep in Northern Ireland for slaughtering in southern plants is confirmed in the figure of 11,020 sheep crossing the border. Quotes for Thursday remain steady in Dunbia Dungannon at £3.75/kg and have eased back 5p/kg in Linden Foods to £3.70/kg.

Sterling continues to fluctuate greatly and after dropping to a 10-year low of over 93p to the euro at the weekend, is trending around 92.5p. This leaves northern prices of £3.75/kg very competitive and equating to €4.06/kg (€4.28/kg including VAT at 5.4%). Producer groups and sellers competing at the top of the market are securing 5p/kg to 10p/kg higher. British prices are averaging between £3.90/kg and £4.00/kg (€4.50/kg to €4.56/kg) in the last week, with live prices rising 10p/kg to 15p/kg on the back of higher demand.

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SheepWatch: prices steady in the last week