Lamb Processing

TFI’s first spring crossbred lamb contract starts at 680c/kg for 18-32kg lambs

Terry Sim, June 5, 2017

SOUTH Australian-based lamb processor Thomas Food International’s first 2017 spring lamb forward contract of 680c/kg cwt for 18-32kg crossbred lambs has been welcomed by stock agents.

The company’s spring contract price for new season crossbred lamb deliveries at its South Australian plants at Murray Bridge and Lobethal, and at its Tamworth plant in New South Wales, holds at 680c/kg from August 4-18.

The crossbred sucker contract price then falls to 640-650c/kg for the next two weeks, and down to 600c/kg from September 4-15. The old crossbred lamb contract prices vary from 660c/kg in August down to 580c/kg by mid-September.

The prices for 18-32kg new season Merino, Dohne and SAMM lambs over the same August-September period starts at 640c/kg and falls to 560c/kg. The old Merino/Dohne/SAMM price varies from 620c/kg down to 540c/kg.

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The TFI contract is for minimum consignments of 100 head and all lambs outside the contract specifications revert to the current spot price grid. Producers are required to nominate the preferred week of slaughter, but weeks may fill at any stage and be closed without notice, the company said.

The forward contract prices have received positive feedback from agents as an indication of the strength of the lamb market leading into the traditional spring-summer new season turn-off ‘flush’.

Riverina Livestock Agents’ Tim Drum said there won’t be an abundance of new season lambs being marketed at that time from the Riverina, but the contract prices were a “good indication” of the strength of the market.

Landmark Naracoorte livestock manager Brendan Fitzgerald said the TFI contract would attract early lambs in areas north of Naracoorte, before the flush of new season lambs in other areas.

“It’s a price just to tease them out.

“If it drops 100c/kg when the flush comes, well that is still pretty good.”

He expected other companies would soon release forward contracts at similar levels.

Click here for full details of the TFI spring lamb contracts.

Source: TFI.

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