Lamb prices down as French demand dips
The pen of five was exhibited by Ann Marie Horgan, Templemartin. The reserve championship went to a pen of five lambs exhibited by John Ryan, Ballinascarthy.
The lambs weighed 50 kgs and sold for €88. A pen of five lambs, averaging 50 kgs, exhibited by Dan O’Mahony, Ballygarvan was sold for €84. At the sale of commercial lambs, prices ranged up to €27 over €/kg.
Lamb prices lost 6 cents/kg (2p/lb) at the factories as the trade came under pressure yesterday following an easing in the French market over the past week.
Base line prices at the factories fell to 330 cents/kg (118p/lb) with all processors offering similar prices, dampening hopes of prices either holding or showing further improvement for pre-Christmas orders.
The trade in France was hit, last week, by a fall-off in spending.
The French drop in consumption has now filtered through to Irish processors and demand is not as sharp as last week.
Lamb, which was selling for 375-380 cents/kg in France last week has eased back.
It is hoped that this is no more than a temporary blip in the market, but the opportunity to benefit from the pre-Christmas export trade is passing.
Supplies of light Spanish lamb on the French market eased in recent weeks.
The domestic trade for lamb is continuing strong with butchers paying up to €32 over €/kg for lambs this week.
Overall the average price for lambs for the year to date is almost 8 per cent down on last year, while production is down by just over 1%.
