The sheep trade is starting the week on a positive note again, with base prices for lambs on the rise once more.
Factory demand is insatiable for lambs and efforts to secure numbers is being proven by significant increases in prices in the space of a week.
Factories have increased quotes for lambs by 20-30c/kg since the start of last week, a week when some meat processing plants had increased prices more than once.
Kildare Chilling is leading the line currently, having lifted its base price since the start of last week by 30c/kg to now stand at €6.50/kg plus a 10c/kg quality assurance (QA) bonus up to 22kg.
Irish Country Meats (ICM) has also lifted its base price for lambs since this time last week time by 25c/kg to now stand at €6.35/kg plus a 10c/kg QA bonus, but it is now paying up to 22.5kg.
Reports from other factories indicate lifts in base prices of 10c/kg, with one western-based plant on a base price of €6.25/kg – up 20c/kg from the start of last week.
Therefore, across the board, base quotes for lambs range from €6.25/kg up to €6.50/kg, with QA lambs moving at prices ranging from €6.40/kg up to €6.60/kg.
At the top end of the market, prices now are hitting €6.70/kg and even higher with producers having more joy negotiating higher weights.
Ewe trade
There is also more positive movement to report on ewe prices, with base prices also seeing a lift of 10c/kg in cases.
This 10c/kg rise in prices is confined to meat processing plants that were at the bottom of the table in terms of quotes.
As a result, this has brought ewe quotes across the board to €3.00/kg, with top prices reaching as high as €3.50-3.60/kg.