Prices steady despite rumours of a 30c/kg drop

A MUCH-TOUTED price drop failed to materialise. There had been plenty of talk in recent days that quotes would be significantly back on the recent reported figures of €5.20-5.40/kg.

The reason being bandied about was that factories might feel there were too many sheep at too steep a price.

Yet that message was starting to be watered down when the crunch time came.

Some of those with sheep to sell yesterday were claiming that the prices were back as much as 30c/kg. Yet at a closer look those ‘big’ price drops were based largely on one-off deals done around two weeks ago.

Yesterday morning, official quotes were either unchanged, as in the case of Moyvalley meats or were back by just 10c/kg, as with Dawn Group, the two ICMs and Kepak. Kildare Chilling once again were not in a position to offer an official quote.

The line being spun by the factories is that they are in an in-between period with no significant religious, cultural or sporting event on the horizon to help drive demand.

In short, without one of these events to look forward to combined with marketing initiatives from the supermarkets and/or Bord Bia, sheep meat sales fall off.

There is obviously still a market but one which the factories feel they currently have to manage carefully.

Cull ewes also came under pressure over the weekend with the two ICM plants pulling their quote back by 10c/kg to €2.60/kg, which placed them in line with Dawn. Kepak, however, remain steady at €2.70/kg, with Kildare Chilling again not quoting.

IFA national sheep chair Sean Dennehy said “sheep farmers should strongly resist the negative price pressure from factories on lamb price” as factories, while quoting as low as €5.10/kg for lambs, “were having to pay up to €5.40/kg to get stock”.

Overweight

Mr Dennehy said farmers with fit lambs should select them carefully and avoid stock going overweight.

That point was also emphasised by the ICSA’s John Brooks, who claimed that some sheep farmers seem to have adopted the attitude that once their green crop reserves are eaten out, they would clear out all their lambs in one fell swoop to the factory rather than brining them in and sorting them properly.

“You will always hear from the factories about the heavy lamb but never about the one you could have done a bit more with,” he said.