Scotland has always looked to the continent and in particular France to import a large proportion of its lamb, but with the French having increased production there has been a lower demand for British lamb to date this year.
Add to that reduced consumption of lamb in France and 2016 is proving to be a difficult year for the French sheep meat industry with producer prices at their lowest for four years.
According to a report, sheep meat production there in the first five months of 2016 has been 8% higher than the same period in 2015 at 36,300 tonnes and the highest level seen since 2011.
This was as a result of an increase in slaughterings of both lambs and of adult sheep, which were both consistently up during the five months of the year with the exception of April. It was also on the back of a decline in the breeding flock recorded in the December census.
As production in France has increased, overall imports in the first five months have fallen by 10% compared to a year earlier at 34,400 tonnes.
During this time, the UK remained the largest supplier, however, volumes were down by 18% at 13,500 tonnes. This resulted in the share of the total volume shipped to France coming from the UK falling by four percentage points to 39%.
Volumes coming from New Zealand during the same period were also down, by 17% to 6700 tonnes, and resulted in its share falling two percentage points to 19%. Irish shipments were down by 5% at 5700 tonnes.
Spain was the only major supplier of sheep meat to France that increased its shipments during the January to May period, with volumes up 23% at 4900 tonnes, the majority of which comprised of carcases heading to the south of France.
Not only were overall French import volumes lower during the period but the average unit value was also down, by 3%, in euro terms. This left the overall value of sheep meat imports in the first five months of the year down by 13% at €189.1m.
The balance of supplies for consumption in France for the first five months of the year shows that the overall level of supply has declined by 2% compared to the same period in 2015. This also shows that the total share of French sheep meat for consumption coming from the UK declined from 22% to 18%.
The fall in the value of sterling will, however, hopefully bolster demand for British lamb in the following months to come.