W4: Weekly Lamb & Mutton Update
Australia
Australian Lamb Consumption Dips but Value Holds Firm (Jan 23)
Australians ate slightly less lamb in 2022 than in the previous year and it cost them more, but it doesn’t seem to have affected lamb’s popularity. Meat & Livestock Australia figures released show that despite a drop of about 5% in annual consumption volume over the past two years, consumer spending on lamb is up YoY and has lifted 13% compared with pre-COVID. Lamb’s volume and value share of the fresh meat category remained stable over the past three years and the meat performed particularly well during the final quarter of 2022, with a volume sales increase of 3.9% compared to the same time in 2021 and spending up 6.8%. In 2022, the national retail lamb volume was 62.5M kg, down 4.6% on 2021, while the retail value of domestic sales was 1.14B, a rise of 0.2%. The average retail price paid per kilogram of lamb went from USD 17.36/kg in 2021, to USD 18.26/kg in 2022, an increase of 5.2%.
United Kingdom
Positive Sales for the Welsh Lamb During Christmas 2022 in UK (Jan 25)
New figures on food sales over the festive period suggests that shoppers switched away from turkey during Christmas 2022 towards other meats such as lamb. The information from retail data specialists Kantar show that consumers across Great Britain spent USD 2.94M (£2.7M) less on turkey crowns and joints compared with the previous Christmas period. The main beneficiaries were chicken and lamb, with USD 1.31M (£1.2M) more spent on lamb in December 2022. Welsh promotional body Hybu Cig Cymru, Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) hailed the positive figures for lamb, which came in a period where the British retail environment was tougher than it has been for a number of years due to cost of living pressures.
Ireland
ICSA Urges Sheep Farmers Seeking Higher Prices to Stand Firm (Jan 23)
The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) has urged sheep farmers to “stand firm” and demand better prices for their stock from factories. The ICSA Sheep chair Sean McNamara explained that “factories are struggling to get lambs and prices are edging upwards”. The ICSA Sheep chair previously told Agri-land that farmers finishing lambs should hold out for USD 7.61/kg (€7.00). He said that anything less than this resulted in selling below the cost of production.
Irish Sheep Meat Access to the US a ‘Work in Progress’ (Jan 25)
Farmers have been told by James Smyth of Irish Country Meats (ICM) that access for Irish sheep meat to the US market is a “work in progress”. Speaking at the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) National Sheep meeting on January 23 in Athlone Co. Westmeath, Smyth answered a question from the floor regarding Irish sheep meat access to the US market. He said: “In relation to the US market, that’s certainly a work in progress. There is progress being made at department level and indeed from Bord Bia; a lot of good work is ongoing there. All of these things take time. The mention of EID (electronic identification) tagging which Kevin [Comiskey] alluded to earlier, that producers such as yourselves embraced and took on the extra cost and effort of electronic tagging, has been very important.”
ICSA Calls on Minister to Hold Meeting on Sheep Sector Crisis in Ireland (Jan 27)
The Food Vision Beef and Sheep Group must meet urgently to discuss the crisis in the sheep sector, the Irish Cattle and Sheep farmers’ Association (ICSA) said. Speaking on January 27, the association’s sheep chair Sean McNamara said he is “appalled by the lack of urgency at government level” to address the challenges that the sector is facing. McNamara slammed what he called a lack of engagement between the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue and the sector, labeling it as “disgraceful”.
Uruguay
The Uruguayan Sheep Market in China Shows Signs of Recovery in Demand and Prices in W3 (Jan 25)
In W3, the sheep market in China showed signs of recovery in demand and prices, with closed deals from Uruguay for mutton carcasses at USD 3.2K/MT CFR and lamb from 9 to 24 kg at USD 4.2K-4.3K/MT CFR, same prices as W2, but with more requests from clients.
Low Demand for Uruguayan Lamb Meat During W4 Due to the Chinese Holidays (Jan 27)
During W4, the demand for Uruguayan lamb meat was slow due to the Chinese holidays. The price for mutton carcasses remains at USD 3.2K/MT CFR, and lamb carcasses from 9 to 24 kg at USD 4.3K/MT CFR.
Morocco
The prices of red meat in Morocco have witnessed an unprecedented skyrocketing rise during the past weeks, after the prices of the two varieties (beef and sheep) recorded new increases, exceeding all expectations. The price of lamb meat exceeded USD 9.83 (100 dirhams), after it had not, until recently, not exceeded USD 7.86 (80 dirhams) selling by installments. One speaker confirmed that the professionals of this sector suffer greatly from the decline in supply in the national markets, as a result of the high fees imposed on imports, as he demanded the need for government intervention in order to find urgent solutions to this problem. The same speaker considered that the government (Ministry of Agriculture) is required to address this problem as soon as possible, in order to avoid what will happen during the month of Ramadan and Eid al-Adha, in reference to monopoly and price speculation, due to the high demand for the acquisition of red meat in its two categories.
Egypt
Egypt Imported USD 687M Worth of Live Animals During 2022 (Jan 29)
The report of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics indicated that Egypt's total imports of live animals amounted to USD 687.47M during the period from January to October 2022. Sheep and goats value totaled USD 11.52M.
