Sheep Trends: prices lift by 20c/kg to 30c/kg

Lamb quotes have increased by 20c/kg to 30c/kg on last week’s levels, with opening negotiations for quality assured (QA) lambs starting from €8.60/kg to €8.70/kg.

The two Irish Country Meats (ICM) plants in Camolin and Navan continue to set the pace with their base quotes of €8.50/kg plus 20c/kg QA payment.

Kildare Chilling makes a welcome return to the quotes table by offering a base of €8.50/kg plus 10c/kg QA payment, also to 23.5kg carcase weight.

Reports indicate other plants not officially quoting are working off a similar opening price of €8.60/kg.

Regular sellers and groups are securing returns of €8.80/kg, with sellers trading at the top end of the market pushing prices to €8.90/kg and higher when conformation bonuses and transport costs are factored in.

Agents are also busy trying to secure supplies for over the Christmas period.

Throughput continues to run in the region of 20,000 below the norm on a weekly basis, leaving factories struggling to develop a cushion in supply.

Last week’s throughput was recorded at just 44,793 head. While this represents a week-on-week increase of 5,528 head, it was 19,602 behind the corresponding week in 2023.

Throughput for the year to date has now jumped to over 350,000 lower than in 2023.

The majority of plants plan to slaughter on Monday 23 December, Friday 27 December, Monday 30 December and Tuesday 31 December, before resuming normal processing from 2 January 2025. The exception is Ballon Meats, which is closed Christmas week.

Ewe trade

The ewe trade is vibrant, with plants more anxious for ewes due to tight lamb supplies.

Quotes are in the region of €4.30/kg to €4.40/kg in the main five slaughter plants, with carcase weight limits ranging from 43kg to 46kg.

Some sellers are securing higher carcase weight limits of 50kg to finalise deals for quality ewes where a small number may exceed normal.

Plants or abattoirs specialising in the ewe trade such as Ballon Meats are paying upwards of €4.80/kg for ewes delivered to satisfy niche market demand.

Northern Ireland

The trade in Northern Ireland is moving upwards at a slower pace than in Ireland.

Base quotes for Thursday increased by 5p/kg to 10p/kg, leaving opening quotes in the region of £6.70/kg to £6.80/kg. This is the equivalent of €8.12/kg to €8.24/kg at Wednesday afternoon’s exchange rate of 82.5p to the euro.

Regular sellers and groups are securing in the region of £6.90/kg to £7/kg (€8.36/kg to €8.48/kg), with plants reluctant to pass this mark.

The number of sheep exported south for direct slaughter last week was recorded at 5,423 head and continues to run at 50% to 60% of 2023 levels.

Reports indicate exports to Britain and further afield remain steady at over 2,000 head.