Stable French lamb market

Marts: French sheep meat imports remained stable for 2006, according to the latest figures released by Ubifrance which confirmed that total imports were just under 137,000 tonnes.

Britain remained the prime supplier to the French market, well ahead of supplies from Ireland and New Zealand which were similar in volume for the year. Supplies from Ireland and New Zealand were lower than 2005 levels.

During the year French home production fell by 1%, but this was offset by a similar decline in consumption, resulting in overall import needs remaining similar to 2005 requirements.