The trade coming into this week is continuing in the same fashion as recent weeks, with no change to report in prices for lambs.
With throughput in recent weeks consistently hitting over 60,000 head and within that, lamb throughput ranging from 45,000-50,000 head in general over the past month or so, it is resulting in factories sitting tight on price.
Despite the trade holding at this level for a few weeks now, factories remain extremely keen for suitably finished lambs as can be seen from the levels of throughput in recent weeks.
Base quotes for lambs coming into this week remain from €6.00-6.20/kg.
Kildare Chilling remains on a price of €6.20/kg plus a 10c/kg quality assurance (QA) bonus.
Irish Country Meats also remains on a base price of €6.00/kg plus a 10c/kg QA bonus, while reports from other plants indicate a base price of €6.05/kg.
This is leaving prices for QA lambs at €6.10/kg up to €6.30/kg. Prices at the top end of the market range continue to range from €6.40/kg up to €6.50/kg.
Factories are paying up to 21.5kg with deals, to 22kg also being secured in cases.
Prices currently are just about in front of what they were at this time last year of 5-10c/kg.
Ewe trade
The ewe trade, compared to the lamb trade, is coming into this week on a more unsettled note.
Factories appear to be looking to put some downward pressure on the trade, with some not offering a quote, others reducing the base price by 5c/kg and some then holding to last week’s price.
Taking this into account, base quotes for ewes range from €3.15-3.30/kg. Despite this however, those trading at the higher end of the market are reportedly still securing returns as high as €3.60-3.80/kg.