Sheep Trends: trade steady at €6.20/kg to €6.30/kg

There has been no real change in the factory lamb trade over the last week, with quotes and prices unchanged in the main.

Kildare Chilling remains on a base of €6.20/kg plus its 10c/kg quality assurance (QA) payment, while the two ICM plants in Camolin and Navan are on a base of €6/kg plus their 20c/kg QA payment, while Ballon Meats continues to quote €6.30/kg all-in.

Reports indicate plants not officially quoting are working from a base of €6.05/kg to €6.10/kg or €6.20/kg for QA lambs. s such, a high percentage of lambs are trading within a price range from €6.20/kg to €6.30/kg.

Those trading through producer groups or handling larger numbers and possessing more negotiating power are securing returns of €6.35/kg to €6.40/kg when conformation payments are added.

Supplies appear to be finely balanced with demand. Last week’s throughput increased marginally by 855 head to reach 59,946.

The kill continues to trend 7% to 10% behind the corresponding period in 2022, with the latest kill figures running 7% or 4,230 head lower.

Lamb throughput (50,934) has caught up with 2022 levels and is running just shy of 1,000 head higher, while ewe throughput (8,731) is running 4,488 head lower.

The ewe trade is steady to slightly easier in a couple of plants. Quotes in the five largest factories range from €2.60/kg to €2.90/kg, with the low quote of €2.60/kg part of Kildare Chilling’s new quoting system for ewes.

Prices in the main range from €2.80/kg to €3.00/kg, with plants or abattoirs specialising in the ewe trade quoting €3.30/kg to €3.40/kg for top-quality ewes.

Global update

The trade in Northern Ireland is also steady, with base quotes of £5.15/kg or the equivalent of €5.95/kg at an exchange rate of 86.5p to the euro.

Groups and regular sellers are securing 5p/kg to 10p/kg higher. There is a significant differential to prices in Britain, which range from £5.40/kg to £5.60/kg.

Bord Bia dashboard prices

The differential is also reported in the latest Bord Bia sheep price dashboard, with prices in Northern Ireland at €6.03/kg (up 40c/kg on 2022) and €6.40/kg in Britain (up 29c/kg). Irish prices are recorded at €6.18/kg (up 8c/kg) excluding VAT, while French prices top the price table at €8/kg. The Spanish price of €7.41/kg is up 20c/kg year on year.

Prices in Australia remain on the floor at an average of just €2.71/kg, down €2.45/kg year on year.

The New Zealand price, while significantly higher at €3.83/kg, is running €2/kg lower than 12 months ago.

This is concerning in light of both countries’ tariff-free quotas with the UK and Europe.

Australia has filled 2,550t or 17% of its UK quota for 2023 since July. The EU imports from New Zealand up to May 2023 are up 20% at 33,381t, with imports of 35,000t from Britain for the same period.