Opinion
In W16 in the lamb and mutton landscape, the EU established new protection and surveillance measures for Spain due to the outbreaks of sheep and goat pox detected in Andalusia and Castilla-La Mancha. More specifically, in the La Mancha provinces of Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Albacete, and Toledo, as well as additional restricted zones in those provinces. Australian commercial sheep and lamb listings on AuctionsPlus fell 36% to 30,715 heads in W15, leading to a robust market with value over reserve increasing USD 7 to average USD 16, while the overall clearance rate was slightly down at 60%. In the UK, total sheep meat imports saw large MoM increases in February, up 52% to 3.6K MT, mainly from New Zealand (+144%), while YoY changes registered a decrease of 24%, driven by 59% and 28% drops in sheep imports from Ireland and Australia, respectively. UK sheep meat exports in February totaled 6.3K MT, up 5% MoM, mainly to Ireland and Hong Kong, but dropped by 2% YoY, due to decreases in exports to EU destinations, France (-5%) and Belgium (-23%). Despite this overall YoY decline, exports were up 6% compared to the 5-year average, with increasing volumes going to France (+14%). In the first three months of 2023, Russian mutton and goat meat exports increased by 2.2 times compared to the levels of the same period in 2022, mainly destined for Iran. In Ireland, prices continued to rise in the sheep trade, with factory quotes for hoggets hitting the USD 8.13/kg mark at some sites, up by USD 1.54/kg in 7 weeks. Similarly, spring lamb prices rose to as high as USD 8.90/kg, while ewe prices were slower to rise, having increased by just 20c/kg. However, weekly price increases are expected to end soon as Ramadan comes to a close in W16. Lastly, since February, Morocco imported 22K heads of cattle and 10K heads of sheep, aimed at supplying the national market with sufficient quantities of meat, and ensuring price stability.