Two week slide takes glitter off prices

AFTER a steady start to the week’s trading, with prices holding at last week’s level, the lamb prices suffered a further dive on Tuesday morning, which knocked up to 20 cents/kg (7p/lb) off the prices of a week earlier.

The slide in prices for two consecutive weeks has taken the glitter off the market, as supplies to the marts and the factories build up. Prices in the marts came back by up to €3/head on Monday, with bigger entries.

By Tuesday morning, farmers were looking at a drop of 6 to 20 cents/kg (2p to 7p/lb) from the same day last week, with base prices ranging over a wider spread than usual, from 459 back to 434 cents/kg (164p to 155p/lb).