Spring lamb prices are moving in a positive direction this week (beginning Monday, May 9), with prices improving by 10c/kg on last week.

Tight supplies of lambs up to now are forcing factories hands it seems, with some moving base prices on by 10c/kg this week. Meanwhile, others are offering 10c/kg more at the top end of the market to tie down supplies.

The “first blast of spring lambs appear to be drying up” one procurement manager has said, with a “wait and see” approach now being implemented in the meantime to see what supplies are going to be like.

Some meat processing plants are holding at an all-in quote, including quality assurance (QA) bonuses, of €8.00/kg for spring lambs – similar to the last few weeks.

Kildare Chilling is the exception. It has increased its base price for spring lambs by 10c/kg, to now stand at €8.00/kg plus a 10c/kg QA bonus.

Despite other factories holding base prices, they are still paying that bit more to secure supplies. €8.30/kg is now more freely available than before, with reportedly more in some instances. With that said, many lambs are still moving at €8.00-8.20/kg.

Furthermore, most factories have now moved to paying up to 20.5kg carcass weight for spring lambs.

Quotes for hoggets remain unchanged from last week, with base prices ranging from €6.80/kg to €7.10/kg.

Top prices for hoggets continue to range from €7.30-7.40/kg, with some securing deals of 5-10c/kg above this level.

Deductions in prices for heavy hoggets remain in place by factories for hoggets killing out over 25kg.

Base prices for ewes remain unchanged, ranging from €3.70/kg to €3.80/kg. Top reported prices for ewes are ranging from €4.00-4.20/kg.