This week’s sheep trade was marred by transport chaos between the UK and Europe following the closure of the Channel Tunnel on French soil.

This left sheep factories having to reassess their planned activity and look at the contingency plans they were already trialling in case of a no-deal Brexit.

Throughput was largely unaffected on Monday, while many factories got into higher throughput than initially predicted on Tuesday and are operating at a lower level of throughput on Wednesday, which was initially planned.

The situation was far from ideal, but there are at least some positives in that factories were winding down throughput in the run-in to Christmas, while having explored contingency plans for Brexit is also reported as providing some help.

The other positive element to the trade is that demand is holding strong and prices are unchanged.

Sellers handling large numbers or selling as part of a group are trading in the region of €5.75/kg to €5.85/kg, with isolated deals reported at a higher price.

Sellers with average negotiating power are trading from €5.65/kg to €5.70/kg, while sellers handling small numbers and selling lambs on an infrequent basis are typically moving quality assured lamb in the region of €5.60/kg to €5.65/kg.

Factories have much of their sheep sourced for next week and have also some big consignments organised for when slaughtering resumes on Tuesday 29 December.

There will be an urgency to replenish stocks where required with the hope of travel arrangements returning to some level of normality, although Brexit will also have a greater say on this next week.

IFA sheep chair Sean Dennehy says the industry has been working hard on developing contingency plans that will lessen the effect of the transport disruptions, both from the perspective of Brexit and more recently COVID-19-related restrictions.

He says demand in export markets is holding strong and that this should hold true, with the market requiring a steady supply in the run-up to Christmas and after the Christmas break.

At present factories are quoting similar prices for next week as for this week, but they comment that this will be dependent on no further disruptions or challenges occurring. The difficulty as it stands is there are no ferry crossings between Tuesday (22nd) and early next week.

Ewe trade

There has been a relatively strong appetite for ewes in the last week to 10 days. Quotes are unchanged in the region of €2.60/kg to €2.70/kg, with a high percentage of ewes trading from individual sellers from €2.70/kg to €2.85/kg.

Sellers handling large numbers and possessing strong negotiating power are pushing prices at the top of the market to €2.90/kg to €3.00/kg. Take note to check carcase weight limits as these vary anywhere from 40kg to 45kg in general.

Sheep kill rallies

Last week’s sheep kill was recorded at 59,325 head, which represents an increase of 5,105 head on the previous week.

The lift in throughput was driven by a combination of continued strong factory appetite for lambs and some producers reducing numbers on hand before the Christmas break.

Despite the increase, the kill is still running 5,446 head behind the corresponding week in 2019, with ewe and ram throughput of 6,478 head running 1,495 lower, with the shortfall made up of fewer lambs handled.

This leaves throughput for the year to date of 2.8m head running 54,813 higher than 2019. It is likely that with this week’s trade disruption the kill will also fall short of 2019 levels, with total throughput for the year expected to finish in the region of 45,000 to 50,000 head above 2019 levels.

Northern trade

The trade in Northern Ireland is holding solid, with quotes unchanged at £4.75/kg or the equivalent of €5.20/kg at Tuesday afternoon’s exchange rate of 91.4p to the euro.

Regular sellers are securing an additional 5p/kg to 10p/kg, with quotes at the top of the market reported at £4.90/kg (€5.36/kg) for large consignments of lambs for next week’s kill.

Demand from buyers purchasing on behalf of southern plants remains strong, but numbers imported for direct slaughter are likely to dip with mart sales stopping for a Christmas break.