Prime lamb prices strengthen

Prime lamb prices strengthen

Prime lamb prices across Europe have strengthened seasonally over the past month with the Christmas period improving demand across Europe, according to the latest Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) analysis.

Stuart Ashworth, QMS head of economic services.

However, for Europe as a whole, prices are failing to match last year’s levels although there are significant regional differences.

“France and Spain are showing year-on-year falls of 4.5% and 11%, respectively, while Ireland and GB, when quoted in Euro, are little changed on the year,” said Stuart Ashworth, QMS director of Economics Services.

According to Ashworth, exports continue to maintain importance to the UK market.

“Although Customs and Excise data shows lower volumes of sheepmeat exported during September, lower domestic production in that month meant that exports continued to represent 30% of production, the same proportion as September 2017,” he said.

The recent publication of the full UK agricultural census from June 2018 reveals the UK lamb crop to be 2.3% lower than last year.

Between June and October, UK slaughter statistics suggest a lamb kill almost 5% lower than last year, resulting in the proportion of the estimated lamb crop already slaughtered slightly lower than in 2017.

“One feature revealed in the UK slaughter data, is that lamb carcase weights have increased in comparison to last year; typically 0.2kg dwt higher over the June to October period with the gap widening in October,” said Ashworth.

“In support of this, the proportion of lambs over 45.5kg lwt, the upper limit of the Standard Quality Quotation, in auction sales has been higher this year. This is leading to increased discounts in the auction markets for heavy lambs of over 45.5kg lwt,” he added.

Meanwhile in the Republic of Ireland, lamb slaughtering’s since mid-year have been higher than last year, while their census showed a lower lamb population in June 2018.

Irish lamb slaughtering’s were particularly strong from mid-August to early November but by mid-November had slipped below year earlier levels.

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