Australia: Lamb prices are predicted to rise in winter as supply tightens

Lamb

Mutton

Meat

Australia

Market & Price Trends

Published Mar 21, 2024

Tridge summary

Lamb prices are predicted to surge by 35 to 40 per cent due to a tightening supply as winter approaches, potentially reaching up to 950c, according to Simon Quilty from Global AgriTrends. Despite an 85 per cent increase in domestic lamb consumption since 2019, largely due to larger volumes being directed to domestic markets and exports, Quilty suggests that the demand for sheepmeat is not particularly strong, attributing the consumption increase to lower prices. Prices are expected to decrease again in the spring when supply increases.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by a state-of-the-art LLM model and is intended for informational purposes only. It is recommended that readers refer to the original article for more context.

Original content

Lamb prices will lift by as much as 35 to 40 per cent going into winter, according to one red meat analyst. Simon Quilty of Global AgriTrends said that as supply tightens, prices will rise accordingly with trade lamb to reach as high as 850c. "I think the weakness is really in March and April in the market... but I see the market for the next six to eight weeks going sideways and then to start to claw its way back up based on tightness," he said. "We had 9.7 million head of lambs slaughtered last year, which is a liquidation stage in the flock and I'm of the opinion that the flock size has fallen and the availability of both mutton and lamb are going to fall this year. "My thoughts are that we could see lamb prices lift by July, August to around 850c on trade lambs and we might even be lucky enough to get a spike to 950c." But prices will ease again in the spring period as supply rises, Mr Quilty said. "We might see prices come back about 8pc or 9pc when the supply comes on," he ...

Source: Farmweekly