Heat and holiday effect eases

THE sheepmeat markets have settled after turbulence caused by increased supply and reduced consumer demand on the continent during the recent heatwave.

Base prices for the week are 358 to 353 cent/kg (128p to -126p/lb), an improvement of 3 cents/kg (1p/lb) in some processors’ quotes over the past week.

Throughput at the export plants dropped off sharply over the past month, as prices slumped and they are currently about 20% lower than for the same weeks in 2002.