THE prime lamb market seems to have developed the wobbles over the past week.

LAMBS: Colin and Allan Coyle, of Barnawatha, are pictured with Elders Corowa's Steve Grantham. Allan sold 154 shorn lambs to a top of $140 at Corowa.

There has been an undercurrent of thought, amongst processors and agents, that there was a price correction looming, with values rising sharply over the past few weeks. This was glaringly obvious at northern selling centres.

Export buyers said there is a cloud of uncertainty hovering over the global economy, with China and the Middle East facing strong headwinds on a number of financial fronts. Buyers believe the high prices paid in recent weeks are not sustainable for Australian export companies and the fall in the market late last week is a correction.

At the Wagga lamb sale in NSW last week, prices took a hit over all weights and grades. The market for heavy export lambs was unpredictable, with prices bouncing around for most of the sale. The best results were achieved for lambs weighing 30kg plus, while there was greater price variations for lambs 26-30kg. Heavy lamb values dipped to a low of $140, before recovering for the heavier pen lots to reach a top of $186kg or 494c/kg carcass weight. The same can be said for trade lambs, as domestic buyers were more selective at reduced rates of $7-$8 per head. The better shaped shorn lambs reached a top price of $146 to average 541c/kg cwt.

Agents agree that the key to how markets perform leading into autumn will be the supply of lambs direct to works and how quickly numbers decline at physical markets in both Victoria and NSW.

Meat & Livestock Australia reported lamb tonnage pushed through the half a million mark, when lamb production lifted a further five per cent year-on-year to 508,570 tonnes cwt. This is the first time Australia has produced in excess of half a million tonnes in a calendar year. Victoria has kept its number one ranking as the prime lamb state, with production increasing five per cent year-on year to 223,181 tonnes cwt. In contrast NSW comes in a poor second, producing 119,756 tonnes.

Lamb numbers decreased across early sales this week. At Bendigo on Monday numbers dropped by more than 6500 to 11,400, as the ongoing dry conditions forced many producers to offload larger numbers of secondary lambs late last year. The National Livestock Reporting Service (NLRS) said quality deteriorated again this week due to the ongoing tough season.

At Corowa NSW on Monday numbers dropped by 5000. The NLRS said the yarding at Corowa was plainer, while at Dubbo the yarding was mixed with plenty of lighter weight lambs offered. Despite tighter supplies of trade lambs in NSW, rates dropped $9-$12 to average 514c/g cwt.