Deep cut hurts sellers
Base prices are back by as much as 45 cents/kg (16p/lb) on last week, trading at 370 to 378 cents/kg (132p to 135p/lb) when the factories opened for business on Monday last.
Prices recovered by 3 cents/kg (1p/lb) on Tuesday, as producers resisted the sharp cut.
Lamb prices have been good for the year to date and producers hoped for strong prices lasting a little longer before the seasonal drop. But the supply has been increasing in this country and in Britain, and the demand in France has eased, which is traditional for this time of the year, resulting in pressure on prices.
The sharp increase in numbers on offer in Britain resulted in prices dropping 50 cents/kg (18p/lb) during the course of a week, to the equivalent of €4/kg.
It was also a bad week for lambs in France, where the prices for Irish lamb opened at 380 to 400 cents/kg and weakened through the week as demand eased.
The drop in factory prices hit the mart trade with a bang on Monday. In the west, prices fell by €4/head at Athenry, where the numbers on offer were slightly lower. There was a drop of up to €10/head for factory lambs at Kilkenny, where 1,130 head were on offer, with butchers lambs making up to €40 over and factory lots €30 to 38 over. At Fermoy, factory lambs made €26 to 33 over, butchers lots€30 to 38 over.
