AuctionsPlus commercial sheep and lamb listings fell 13% to 51,497 head this week and was met with a 75c/kg rise to the AuctionsPlus restocker indicator known as ARLI which is now sitting at 633c/kg. There was also an 11% rise of the crossbred lamb indicator to $128.
There was a nine percentage point jump in the clearance rate to 59%, however Value Over Reserve rose by $5 to average $11 across all listings.
Shedding Breed Lambs lifted an average of $47/head, while minor falls were recorded in the Merino Wether Lambs and Composite/Other Breed Lambs.
The biggest gains in the Ewe categories were $35/head for SM Shedding Bred Ewes and $31/head for Shedding Breed Ewes, lifting to $176 and $129 respectively. The biggest loser in the category was SIL Composite/Other Breed Ewes, which fell $49/head to $109.
Listings were steady in Queensland and NSW, but dropped 2,461 to 8,867 in Victoria and fell 3,314 to 7,439 in South Australia. NSW and Victoria buyers both purchased an additional 2,400-odd sheep and lambs this week, but South Australia dropped its purchases by more than half, less 3,037 to only buy 2,392 head this week. WA, NT, ACT and Tas all dropped off the map for listings and purchases this week.
Processors did not purchase any sheep or lambs on AuctionsPlus this week, after purchases had been declining in recent weeks. This comes as MLA today reported that the combined sheep and lamb slaughter surged week-on-week to reach 687,772 head, marking it the largest weekly total on record. Notably, Victoria recorded its highest individual slaughter numbers. Lamb slaughter reached 506,443, surpassing the half-million mark for the first time.
Table 1: AuctionsPlus National Weekly Sheep and Lamb Prices
Report: Interactive Market Dashboard
Crossbred Lambs registered a 24% bigger offering in head, with prices rising again, this time $13 on last week to average $128/head for a 91% clearance. From Crookwell, NSW a line of 475 Poll Dorset/Border Leicester/Merino mixed sex July '22 store lambs weighing 48kg lwt returned $157/head, or 324c/kg and will travel to a buyer in Griffith, NSW.
The 2,236 Merino wether lambs offered this week was a 75% decrease on last week's auction. Prices responded to the decreased supply with a $9/head decrease compared to last week and a 78% clearance rate. From Forbes, NSW a line of 180 Merino wethers May '23 drop and weighing an average of 42.7kg lwt returned $96/head, or 222c/kg and will travel to a buyer also from Forbes.
4,060 SIL Shedding Breed Ewes were offered this week, up 373% from last week. Prices were up by $1/head to record an average price of $141/head, however the clearance rate was just 31%.
Note: Prices as at 5pm Thursday, 28th March 2024
We'd love your feedback on how we can improve the weekly market comments. Let us know what you would find helpful by emailing newsroom@auctionsplus.com.au
