Market Morsel: Slumpty dumpty
Market Morsel
Saleyard throughput for lamb, sheep and cattle all eased for the week ending 19th November, but the crash in lamb numbers really stands out as this time of year is usually approaching peak lamb offerings particularly in Victoria.
East coast lamb throughput at the saleyard dropped by 47%, or around 130,000 head, to see just 144,528 lambs yarded last week. Normally at this time in the season there are more than 200,000 lambs being presented. Low volumes were noted across NSW and Victorian saleyards, but NSW led the decline with numbers off by 90,000 head compared to the previous week. Victorian lamb numbers eased by nearly 40,000 head.
Sheep yarding was similarly soft with volumes down 46%, or nearly 50,000 head, to see 58,239 sheep yarded on the east coast. Normally, at this time of the there are around 90,000 head of sheep offered across east coast saleyards. Both NSW and Victorian sheep throughput were nearly half what they were the week prior.
East coast cattle throughput was lower too, but by a lesser degree. Cattle numbers at the sale yard eased 21%, or around 11,500 head, to register 42,414 for the week ending 19th November. Queensland and NSW were the main culprits for the drop, down 21% and 39%, respectively .Meanwhile Victorian saleyards saw an 11% gain to 7,541 head of cattle.
