AWEX wool regional indicators finish 0.7% lower

18 Jul '11

2 min read

The AWEX Regional Indicators finished 0.7% lower, on average, at sales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle this week when the US exchange rate fell by 0.8%. This was the last sale prior to the mid-year three week break.

It was also the largest sale since the second sale in January, when growers started to respond to the sharp rise in the market.

Among the Regional Indicators, the much larger fall of 47¢ in the West on Tuesday was associated with the break in sales in Fremantle last week. The EMI fell by 49¢ over the same period since the previous Fremantle sale.

58,893 bales were on offer, compared with 39,368 bales last week (when only Sydney and Melbourne sold). 9.8% were passed in, comprised of 8.3% in Sydney, 8.5% in Melbourne and 14.0% in Fremantle. Pass-in rates for Merino fleece and skirtings were 9.2% and 11.9%, respectively. 53,120 bales were cleared to the trade.

The US exchange rate responded negatively on Tuesday to the worrying economic information from Europe, softer economic data from the United States and inflation concerns in China. There was a moderate rebound on Wednesday.

The market goes into the mid-year break on a positive note, following the rises on Wednesday when the AWEX EMI rose by 11¢ to put the week-on-week change into positive territory.

This was achieved under the pressure on the large offering. The market had opened on a softer note on Tuesday, with no particular pattern to the price movements, apart from at larger easing at 18 microns in both Sydney and Melbourne. The gains on Wednesday were greatest in the 19 to 23 micron range.

Skirtings prices generally followed the direction of the fleece types, except in the South where they finished on a weaker note on Tuesday, but made good gains on Wednesday. Overall crossbred price trends also tended to follow the Merino price trends. Oddments had a mixed week, but generally finished down on the previous week's market.

Buyers for China were dominant with strong buying support from Europe, India and Taiwan.

Sales are in recess for the three week mid-year break and will resume in the week commencing 8 August. The first estimates for the offering are not yet available. Sales are in recess in South Africa until 17 August.

Australian Wool Industries Secretariat

More Textiles News - Australia...