Lamb Price Stronger with Tight Supplies – IFA
IFA National Sheep Committee Chairman John Lynskey has said the lamb trade is stronger this week with factories paying €4.75 to €4.85 and tops of €4.90 paid.
He said factories are finding it difficult to get the numbers and are having to pay 20c/30c above quoted prices. He said weights have also moved up to 22kgs everywhere.
On ewes, John Lynskey said there is more demand from the factories and prices have moved up with €2.70/kg available.
John Lynskey said the live export trade is more active with buyers moving to put together lambs ahead of the Id-ul-Adha Muslin festival, which starts on September 13th.
In the UK, John Lynskey said lambs have also kicked on in price, with the auction marts paying 186p/kg live weight, which is the equivalent of about €5.00/kg deadweight including VAT.
On numbers John Lynskey said the latest kill figures for 6th August show the weekly kill back at 44,734 compared to 52,968 for the same week in 2015. However the overall kill is running 2.0% ahead of 2015 levels, according to Department figures.
The IFA Sheep Chairman said the Department of Agriculture released details of the 2015 National Sheep Census last week and the key message is that the ewe flock has stabilised and risen slightly by 82,627, and now stands at 2,503,011 ewes.
