The sheep trade has firmed this week, with supplies tightening further.
Factories are more anxious for stock and keen not to miss out on any potential deals.
There is a full complement of quotes for lambs for Thursday.
Kildare Chilling continues to set the pace with its base quote of €6.10/kg plus 10c/kg quality assurance (QA) bonus.
The two ICM plants in Camolin and Navan have reversed last week’s cut and are quoting €6.00/kg plus 10c/kg QA.
Dawn Meats Ballyhaunis and Kepak Athleague are back quoting with base quotes of €6.00/kg plus 10c/kg QA and €6.00/kg plus 15c/kg QA respectively.
Ballon Meats is offering an all-in quote of €5.90/kg, but is looking for heavier lambs and paying to 21.5kg carcase weight.
The general trade is €6.00/kg to €6.15/kg for producers handling non-QA lamb or small numbers.
Producers with greater negotiating power or handling higher numbers are securing returns of €6.20/kg to €6.30/kg, with factories particularly anxious to tie into larger batches.
IFA sheep chair Sean Dennehy said: “Demand for Ramadan is increasing factory agent appetite and buyers are being told to leave nothing behind.
“Producers need to negotiate hard to ensure they are getting the best price available from the market.”
The hogget trade remains variable, with prices ranging anywhere from €5.40/kg to €5.70/kg. The higher prices are confined to good-quality hoggets killing within the desired carcase weight limit and adequately fleshed.
Factories in the east of the country are most active, with Dawn and Kepak not quoting for hoggets for Thursday.
Last week’s Department of Agriculture reported kill figures show the extent to which hoggets have tightened.
The hogget kill of 14,561 head reduced 10,804 head on the previous week and is running in the region of 9,000 head behind the corresponding week in 2018.
Spring lamb throughput increased from 12,626 head to reach 21,112 last week, but reports suggest this has not kicked on this week and, as such, is leaving supplies tight.
There is more ewes coming on to the market following weaning and this is underpinning an increase of almost 1,000 head to 6,798.
Ewe quotes vary from as low as €2.40/kg to €2.80/kg, reflecting varying levels of factory interest. This is also feeding into mart prices, with the trade strongest in the east of the country for well-fleshed heavy ewes.
The trade in Northern Ireland has also strengthened significantly, with hogget quotes increasing 10p/kg and spring lamb quotes rising 15p/kg to 20p/kg.
Lambs are quoted at £5.00/kg, which is the equivalent of €5.64/kg at 88.7p to the euro and €5.94/kg including VAT at 5.4%, while hoggets range from €5.35/kg to €5.46/kg incl VAT. Groups and regular sellers are securing 10p/kg higher. Buyers purchasing for southern plants are inserting extra competition into the trade, with over 4,000 sheep coming south last week for direct slaughter. Numbers moving south should be helped by marts resuming trade with this an important source for sheep coming south and also for inserting more competition.
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