The sheep trade remains in a positive vein of form, with prices edging upwards by another 5c/kg to 10c/kg in the last week.

Kildare Chilling continues to set the pace in terms of official quotes offered, with its base quote of €5.40/kg plus 10c/kg quality assurance (QA) bonus increasing 10c/kg on the week. It is 20c/kg above official quotes in some other plants, but there is a wide differential between prices quoted and what is paid.

Producers trading through producer groups or at the top of the market are securing returns of €5.55/kg to €5.65/kg, with some prices higher than this when bonus payments or allowances on transport have been taken into account.

Many plants are reluctant to increase payments above €5.60/kg outside of these payment mechanisms and are more willing to do deals on carcase weight or transport costs rather than lift prices. This has seen more plants pay to 22.5kg carcase weight with the two ICM plants moving up to this level this week. There has also been deals completed on the wholesale or butcher front, in particular to 23kg carcase weight.

There is a wide differential in prices paid to those with strong negotiating power and individual sellers with small numbers, with prices offered reported from as low as €5.35/kg to typically from €5.40/kg to €5.45/kg, with sellers handling higher numbers pushing towards €5.50/kg. This is leading to more producers meeting this price resistance taking advantage of a vibrant mart trade.

IFA sheep chair Sean Dennehy is encouraging farmers to keep lambs moving as they come fit for slaughter and to weigh up the best outlet for the type of lambs on hand.

With significant movement in prices in recent weeks, he is also advising sellers to stay abreast of any price developments to ensure producers are receiving optimum value.

Last week’s kill reduced by 3,604 head to 55,353. The kill is still relatively high for the time of year, but the reduction in numbers despite the sharp rise in price reflects tight supplies in the market. Factories report that they are starting to experience some opposition in export markets to the higher prices and some are planning to cut back throughput.

Northern trade

It is a similar situation in northern plants, with quotes of £4.50/kg or the equivalent of €5.04/kg at 89.9p to the euro not reflective of prices paid.

Producers handling higher numbers and groups are negotiating returns of £4.65/kg to £4.70/kg (€5.15/kg to €5.26/kg), while specialist finishers and agents handling large numbers are in cases securing 5p/kg to 10p/kg higher.

Producers struggling to negotiate with factories are also taking advantage of a vibrant mart trade, where buyers purchasing on behalf of southern plants are reported as continuing to underpin a strong trade.

Last week’s kill reduced marginally from 10,095 head in the previous week to 9,777.