Irish Sheep Trade & Prices Update
Lamb Market Update: Quotes, Prices, and Throughput
Quotes
Base quotes from major processors have been falling for a number of weeks. However, the week ending April 6th saw quotes take a significant increase, with €9.70/kg for well-finished lambs (+QA bonus) on offer. Sellers trading at the higher end of the market have had more success in negotiating higher carcass weight allowances up to 20.5kg to 21kg.
Relatively tight lamb supplies combined with some stability in demand from the domestic and export markets have contributed to this firming of the trade throughout 2024. Tighter lamb supplies are also a feature in other key lamb-producing regions of Europe and the UK, with the latest Eurostat figures indicating a contraction in breeding flock numbers in many regions. The Irish ewe flock contracted by 3.7% in the December 2023 census versus December 2022 levels. This decline in the ewe flock of 107,000 head is one factor contributing to the tightness in supplies.
Prices
The reported deadweight price for the week ending April 6th increased by 21c/kg to €8.96/kg, reflecting an uplift for the past two weeks after several weeks of consecutive price drops recorded in average prices from the major lamb processors. In the corresponding week in 2024, the reported deadweight price was €8.68/kg. The deadweight trade has slightly improved across the UK regions for the week ending April 6th.
Reported lamb prices in mainland GB were the equivalent of €8.48/kg last week (-23c/kg). In Northern Ireland, the latest prices are not yet published; the last latest NI price for the week ending March 8th, 2025, was €8.06/kg.
Southern Hemisphere prices remain well below European prices; however, they have improved significantly over the last few weeks, narrowing the price differential with the EU. With a lead time on product shipments, this recent improvement in deadweight prices should impact their competitiveness on EU markets in the medium to longer term. Prices this week took a slight increase and fall respectively and are at €4.50/kg and €4.30/kg for Australia and New Zealand.
Throughput
There was a decrease in the total sheep kill in DAFM approved plants last week to 42,533 head, compared to 47,210 the same week in 2024. Tighter supplies have been a feature of the 2025 lamb season to date, with a smaller lamb crop and a difficult lambing impacting lamb availability for processing. Total TYD slaughter is down 22% on 2024 to a total of 566,737 head.
