The sheep trade continues on a positive note this week, with base quotes increasing again in some factories.
At the moment, base quotes for lambs are ranging from €5.20/kg up to €5.40/kg, with top deals of between €5.50/kg and €5.60/kg reportedly being secured.
Irish Country Meats (ICM) remains on a base price of €5.20/kg plus a 10c/kg QA bonus for lambs.
Kepak Athleague was not quoting for lambs or ewes on Monday (November 16).
The mart trade looks again to have picked off where it was last week, with prices for finished lambs trading strongly at marts yesterday.
Mart managers continue to note that supplies of finished lambs are tight and continue to say that butcher and factory agent activity remains very high, with fierce competition being seen at online sales for forward stores and finished lambs.
Base quotes for ewes have improved steadily with factories quoting a base price of €2.60/kg with a QA bonus of up to 10c/kg being offered in some plants.
Lamb quotes:
- Kepak Athleague: No quote;
- Kildare Chilling: 540c/kg + 10c/kg QA (Monday quote);
- ICM: 520c/kg + 10c/kg QA (Monday quote).
Cast ewe quotes:
- Kepak Athleague: No quote;
- Kildare Chilling: 260c/kg + 10c/kg QA (Monday quote);
- ICM: 260c/kg (Monday quote).