Irish Sheep Trade & Prices w/e July 6th 2024
Quotes
Base quotes for hoggets from the major processors have tightened this week with base quotes of €7.00-€7.20/kg (+QA bonus) on offer. Prices have continued to come under pressure this week with reports of weaker demand from some major customers for Irish lamb.
Ireland exports approximately 85 per cent of the lamb produced in the country and the domestic deadweight trade is exposed to developments in supply and demand balances in our export markers. The weakening in deadweight prices is reflective of the more competitive landscape in our export markets with all of our key European export markets recording a reduction in lamb imports for the first four months of 2024 in both volume and value terms.
Spring lamb throughput this year is back by approximately a third from 2023 levels with poor weather conditions, a decline in the ewe flock and later lambing dates contributing to this trend. Current deadweight process are being maintained ahead of previous years due to a tighter availability of suitable sheep for slaughter, a trend that is also reflected in mainland Europe and also in Great Britain.
Prices
Last weeks reported price increased to €7.69/kg, a decrease of 35c/kg from the week previous. In the corresponding week in 2023 the reported price was €7.04/kg. The deadweight trade has also come under some downward pressure in the UK regions.
Reported spring lamb prices were the equivalent of €8.08/kg (-75c/kg) in mainland GB last week while the reported price in Northern Ireland was €7.29/kg (-62c/kg). Southern Hemisphere prices remain well below European prices which makes Southern Hemisphere product very competitive on EU markets, even with the extra costs of transport factored in.
Deadweight lamb prices in Australia and New Zealand were the equivalent of €5.08/kg and €3.70/kg respectively last week however have shown signs of increasing over the last month and narrowing the differential with European prices.
Throughput
The total sheep kill in DAFM approved plants for week ending July 9th 2024 was 48,386 head, back marginally from the corresponding week in 2023. Throughput for the year to date has totalled 1,289,879 head, 11% behind the corresponding period in 2023. The hogget kill for the year to date has totalled 890,682 head, operating 9% behind 2023 levels.
Meanwhile the ewe/ram kill year to date is back by 21,873 head (-15 %) to 123,544 head. Spring lambs have been increasingly coming forward for processing with 272,720 processed so far this year. The supplies of spring lambs are expected to increase in the weeks ahead as more mid-season lambing flocks start to present lambs for processing.
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