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Lamb prices up
Thursday, 7 October 2021
By Rebecca Wright
Over the past two weeks lamb prices have ticked up and there are tentative signs in auction market throughputs this week that this may have finally pulled some supplies forwards. Through the past few months, auction market throughputs have been significantly below expectations, even if we allowed for a smaller lamb crop. In the week ending 6 October, 115,300 lambs came forwards, up 11% on the previous week and just 3% below year earlier levels. In recent months, throughputs have been down by as much as a quarter in some weeks.
During the week ended 6 October, the GB liveweight NSL SQQ gained almost 8p, to stand at 235.21p/kg. The quote now stands 38p above year earlier levels. In the week ended 2 October, the GB deadweight NSL SQQ increased 8.3p, to 502.3p/kg.
Looking forwards to lamb supply for Christmas, calculations suggest there will be British lambs available for slaughter. However, there is likely to be tightness in the market due to a lack of New Zealand lamb. Usually New Zealand would expect six or seven ships to dock in New Zealand to deliver lamb to the UK (via Asia) in time for the Christmas chilled market. In 2021, just three ships are expected, including one that will not reach the UK until days before Christmas. This is due to on-going difficulty in the shipping sector caused by Covid-19.
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