The lamb trade is broadly steady. Base quotes for Thursday are unchanged in the two Irish Country Meats (ICM) plants in Camolin and Navan at €9.70/kg plus a 20c/kg quality assurance (QA) payment.

Dawn Kildare’s base quote of €9.60/kg plus 20c/kg QA is 10c/kg lower when compared with last week, with the plant now also paying to 21.5kg carcase weight.

This statement may seem strange to anyone who remembers last week’s sheep trends, as the headline pointed to base quotes at €9.50/kg. However, was due to a printing error with the previous week’s page running for a second week. Getting back to this week, supplies are closely balanced with demand.

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There was some talk at the end of last week and over the weekend regarding quotes reducing, but with supplies remaining tight, this did not materialise.

The only significant change of note at the start of the week was factory agents adopting a coyer approach to buying in the hope of bringing mart prices back in line with factory returns.

This resulted in prices in some sales reducing, but the trade for heavier, top-quality lambs is still trending higher in many mart sales.

Top prices in factories for lambs are in the region of €10.10/kg to €10.20/kg, although some plants are trying to limit deals with farmers trading outside of groups to €9.90/kg to €10/kg.

The increase in price last week had the desired effect of attracting slightly higher numbers on to the market.

Throughput last week increased by 2,207 head to 34,768. The lamb kill increased by almost 6,000 head to reach 23,285, while hogget throughput reduced by 4,431 to 4,927.

The two ICM plants continue to quote a base of €9/kg plus 20c/kg QA for hoggets, while Dawn Kildare is not quoting for hoggets.

Reports indicate that a high percentage of hoggets are trading at €9.20/kg to €9.30/kg, with smaller number from specialist finishers above this range.

The ewe kill also increased and is running at 6,456 head. Prices are steady, with most plants quoting around the €5/kg to €5.10/kg mark, while Ballon Meats and a couple of other abattoirs continue to pay from €5.50/kg upwards for ewes delivered to their desired specification.

Northern Ireland

Lamb quotes in Northern Ireland have been pulled significantly, with base offers for Thursday falling by 40p/kg to £8.30/kg to £8.40/kg (€9.60/kg to €9.72/kg).

Reports indicate that factory agents are still struggling to compete with the live trade and buying for export to Britain and Ireland.

The number of sheep exported to Britain last week for direct slaughter reduced by about 2,500 head to 3,964 sheep, but the number exported live for direct slaughter in Ireland increased from 993 to 2,509 head.

The sheep kill remained steady at about 7,800 head.