Factories have inflicted cuts of 10c/kg over the last week, with some plants quoting 15c/kg less when compared with 10 days ago.

The cuts have varied across plants. Kildare Chilling reduced its base quote by 10c/kg last week and has held on its base price of €6.40/kg plus its 10c/kg quality assurance bonus for Thursday. In contrast, the two ICM plants held quotes last week, but reduced 10c/kg to €6.30/kg this week.

Reports indicate that other plants not officially quoting are offering base quotes ranging from €6.30/kg to €6.40/kg.

Prices paid to individual producers with lower negotiating power range from €6.50/kg to €6.60/kg, with groups and those trading at the higher end of the market securing €6.70/kg and higher in cases by means of conformation bonuses.

Factories are still keen for lambs and this is shown in their continued firm appetite for lambs in marts and in direct sales.

Their efforts in easing prices was helped by a significant increase in the number of lambs coming on stream.

Last week’s sheep kill was recorded at 59,680 head, an increase of over 6,000 on the previous week. The increase came entirely from lambs, with the ewe kill practically unchanged at 6,862 head.

The kill is 7,527 head higher than the corresponding period in 2021, but it should be noted that a similar increase to what was recorded this week occurred in the following week in 2021. The ewe trade is unchanged, with quotes ranging from €3.10/kg to €3.20/kg in the main export-orientated factories.

Some factories are holding tight to their quote of €3.10/kg, while other factories are paying €3.25/kg to €3.30/kg.

There are also deals ranging anywhere from €3.40/kg to €3.60/kg for large consignments of ewes traded in wholesale plants or for niche market demand.

Northern trade

Quotes in Northern Ireland are steady at a base of £5.25/kg or the equivalent of €6.09/kg at an exchange rate of 86.1p to the euro.

Plants are paying up to 10p/kg to 15p/kg higher to specialist finishers and agents handling big numbers to compete with agents purchasing lambs for export for direct slaughter.

A price of £5.40/kg equates to about €6.25/kg, with some plants also willing to match carcase weight limits of 22.5kg in certain deals.

This is achieving the desired effect, with last week’s sheep throughput recorded at 11,091 head, an increase of about 550 head on the previous week.

About 200 head of this increase came in the form of the ewe kill increasing from 574 head to 789 head.

The latest Bord Bia sheep price dashboard for the week of 26 November shows French lamb prices averaging €8.36/kg, with the average Spanish price of €7.88/kg also significantly higher than the average Irish price listed of €6.82/kg.

This appears high and is significantly ahead of the reported British price of €6.29/kg and Northern Ireland price of €6.08/kg.