Positive Outlook for 2014 Lamb Market – IFA
IFA National Sheep Chairman John Lynskey said all the key signals point to a positive outlook for the 2014 lamb market. He said for the early part of the year, hogget supplies will be very tight, projected to be back over 15% or 130,000 to 150,000 head on last year. In addition, New Zealand supplies will be well down following the severe 2013 drought, and with exports to China continuing to grow, driving prices higher.
IFA National Sheep Chairman John Lynskey said all the key signals point to a positive outlook for the 2014 lamb market. He said for the early part of the year, hogget supplies will be very tight, projected to be back over 15% or 130,000 to 150,000 head on last year. In addition, New Zealand supplies will be well down following the severe 2013 drought, and with exports to China continuing to grow, driving prices higher.
Current hogget prices of €4.90 to €5.00/kg are expected to kick on as supplies tighten even further over the next number of weeks. The big difference from last year is the scarcity in supplies and less New Zealand product.
With no overhang of hoggets in the system, John Lynskey said the prospects for Spring lamb and the Easter trade looks good. He said Easter Sunday is on April 20th and specialist early lamb producers need a top price for their expensive, top-quality product.
For the mid-season crop, the IFA Sheep Chairman said supplies will be tight again in 2014. Last year total kill at the factories was up 8% or 184,000 head, but all of this increase was driven by an overhang of 2012 hoggets and an increase in the ewe kill of over 65,000 head. This will not happen in 2014, leaving overall numbers much tighter throughout the year.
Live exports were very strong in 2013, up from 31,000 to 70,000 head. John Lynskey said IFA secured the opening up of the Libyan market for the first time ever for Irish lambs in June and over 21,000 lambs were shipped during the summer months, adding €5 to €8 per head to the price. Live exports to Germany reached 16,137 head and 11,108 head were exported to Italy. With the first day of Ramadan on June 29th, the live trade should commence earlier this year and boost prices earlier in the season.
On exports John Lynskey said Irish factories have diversified well away from France over recent years. Last year, Ireland exported a total of 44,000 tonnes of sheepmeat worth over €220m. 17,900t was exported to France and 8,900t to the UK. He said there was strong growth of 38% in exports to Belgium reaching 2,900t. Germany grew by 24% to 2,850t and Sweden grew by 30% to 3,100t. Ireland also exported 1,200t to Hong Kong.
The IFA sheep Chairman said lamb consumption remains challenging, but Bord Bia have a strong campaign planned for the domestic market with TV campaigns scheduled for June and September 2014. In addition, Bord Bia will continue its campaign with Agneau Presto in France and also undertake promotional work across all of the growing EU markets.
John Lynskey said that there are over 12,000 sheep farmers joined up to the Bord Bia Quality Assurance Scheme and these numbers should continue to grow in 2014. He said at a recent meeting with the factories, IFA made it very clear that there must be a strong reward and price bonus for Quality Assurance back to the farmer.
