A day’s less processing is starting the week off on a slow footing with no real pressure on factory agents to compete for lambs.
A high percentage of lambs continue to trade in the region of €8.15/kg to €8.25/kg.
Base quotes are unchanged, ranging from €7.90/kg to €7.95/kg in the main processing plants plus their 15c/kg to 20c/kg quality assurance payment.
This leaves opening offers in the region of €8.10/kg but a high percentage of sellers, including many producer groups, are securing €8.20/kg.
Prices at the top end of the market are 5c/kg to 10c/kg higher with very few lambs trading above this price range.
Northern Ireland
Base quotes in factories in Northern Ireland are also unchanged with processing as normal on Monday.
Plants continue to offer an opening base price of £6.85/kg to £6.90/kg, which is the equivalent of €8.19/kg to €8.25/kg following a recent strengthening in the value of sterling to euro (83.6p to the euro). Regular sellers continue to negotiate upwards of £7/kg for significant sized batches traded from regular sellers.
Mart trade
The mart trade is steady with a significant differential remaining between plants reliant on the factory trade and those with butcher and wholesale buyer activity.
At the lower end of the market, fleshed lambs weighing 49kg to 53kg are trading from €177 to €187, depending on quality and potential slaughter performance.
In contrast, prices for top-quality lambs in sale with a firm butcher and wholesale buyer trade are topping €190 per head and selling to the mid €190s, while heavier lambs weighing upwards of 55kg are rising to and topping €200 per head.
