Mutton prices surge to 12-month high

The mutton market has lifted to a 12-month price high, with the gains being driven by light sheep selling into the Middle East and African markets.

The mutton market has lifted to a 12-month price high, with the gains being driven by light sheep selling into the Middle East and African markets.

Not since July last year has the sheep market been trending above 350 cents per kilogram carcass weight, and it is now three times higher than the spring slump when mutton prices hit extreme lows of less than 120c.

And it is light ewes, which at one stage were virtually worthless, which have rebounded the most.

Painting this picture has been the performance of the mutton market at saleyards in the past week as reported by the National Livestock Reporting Service, broken down by weight category:

 14-18kg cwt sheep averaged 355c/kg cwt, gaining 76c in the past 7-days;

 18-24kg cwt sheep averaged 362c/kg, gaining 50c;

 24-30kg sheep averaged 356c, improving 33c/kg; and

 30kg plus heavy sheep averaged 350c/kg, improving 38c/kg.

It meant in dollar-per-head terms the mutton market has tightened up as the price gap between light and heavier sheep narrows. At Wagga Wagga last week lean Merino ewes in the 18-24kg cwt range were listed as averaging $85 per head, against an average of $109 for heavy first-cross ewes in the 24-30kg weight range.

The trend links into what has been happening on the export market with the latest shipping figures showing a step-up in demand from the MENA region, which is countries under the umbrella of the Middle East and North Africa including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.

Buyers line the rails. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Tim Jackson, Global Supply Analyst with Meat and Livestock Australia, said the MENA markets had shown the most export growth last month.

“Exports to Saudi Arabia doubled to 1,950 tonnes, exports to Oman rose by 146pc to 1284 tonnes and exports to Qatar lifted eight-fold to 1229 tonnes,’’ he said.

These markets favour light mutton in carcass form, reflecting the step-up in price for good lines of ewes in the 14-20kg cwt range. Buyers also told The Weekly Times margins for sheep were also better than for many market destinations for lamb, putting the focus on mutton kills amid the rising winter price trend for lamb.

Overall, the MENA group of markets absorbed 8317 tonnes of mutton during May to account for nearly 40pc of total mutton shipments from Australia for the month.

China remains Australia’s biggest single market destination for sheep meat at 5363 tonnes, although this marked a 38pc decline on the volume of mutton the Chinese were buying a year ago.

Mr Jackson said the Chinese market had slowed amid challenges in its economy and data showing much weaker retail spending and growth.

The graph on this page shows how the average price of sheepmeat sold in Chinas has drifted down from the peak seen in 2022 and has been on a soft downward trend for the past 12 months.

It explains why there has been a subtle shift among exporters to diversify and sell more mutton into other markets as the shine comes off China.

The same scenario is playing out for beef, with exporters chasing stronger markets, such as the US, ahead of China.

Mr Jackson said China was the only major beef destination to record a drop in sales from Australia during May, with sales back 22pc compared to a year ago at 15,359 tonnes. In contrast, beef shipments from Australia to the US increased 74pc to 31,294 tonnes during May.