Home trade pays best
The prices range in factory quotes is showing little change from last week, as supplies remain relatively tight across the country.
The domestic trade has continued strong and is now underpinning the market, while the export trade has been easier in Britain and France over the past week, and prices have come under pressure in both markets.
Prices are ranging from 425 to 428 cents/kg (152p to 153p/lb), which is very similar to last week. However, the scarcity of supply is putting some pressure on factories, and producers claim that factories are paying over the quoted prices, to get sufficient supplies. IFA Sheep Chairman Larry Fallon said up to 440 cents/kg (157p/lb) has been paid over the past week to get lambs and he is encouraging producers to resist the fall in price, and hold out for better.
The trade in Britain eased over the past week, as supplies increased.
By the end of the week, the price had slipped back to the equivalent of 472 cents/kg (169p/lb).
In France, the trade has also eased and Irish lamb slipped back to 430 cents/kg (154p/lb), when competitively priced Spanish lamb at around 360 cents/kg ((128p/lb) made the going difficult for the Irish supplies. This trend has been particularly evident in the south of France.
Heavily underpinning the Irish lamb price is the strong home trade, taking a significant share of the available supply presently, and returning better prices than the export trade.
