AWEX EMI up by 4¢

05 Sep '11

3 min read

The AWEX Regional Indicators finished 0.1% higher, on average, at sales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle this week when the US exchange rate rose by 2.1%.

The Western Indicator was down on Wednesday after a one week break in sales, but rose in line with the East on Thursday. 42,310 bales were on offer, compared with 37,102 bales last week (when only Sydney and Melbourne sold). 10.3% were passed in, comprised of 10.4% in Sydney, 9.0% in Melbourne and 13.0% in Fremantle. Pass-in rates for Merino fleece and skirtings were 11.8% and 8.6%, respectively.

The 14.5% re-offer rate of previously passed-in wool this week was reasonably high and presumably reflected an expectation of a better market this week.

37,957 bales were cleared to the trade.

The US exchange rate rose sharply on Monday and continued to move up steadily for the rest of the week. The rise on Monday was attributed to weakness of the US currency and investors moving to higher yielding currencies such as the A$. Some encouraging financial news from the United States was seen as helpful later in the week. The closing value of 107.03¢ on Thursday evening was the highest since the end of July.

It was another good market this week, with good competition in the sale rooms and prices withstanding the 2.1% increase in the US exchange rate. The AWEX EMI was up by 4¢ in Australian currency on Wednesday and another 2¢ on Thursday in a good finish to the week.

There was some very good fine wool on offer during the week which attracted some very good prices. This included a Tasmanian offering and some very nice wool from the Victorian Western Districts in the South on Wednesday; and included some 1PP lots in the North on Thursday. AWEX reported rises of up to 90¢ greasy for the best Spinners types in the South on Wednesday and that three lots of 13 micron wool brought prices from 3,200¢ to 3,560¢ in the North on Thursday.

Skirtings had a mixed start to the week, moving up in the South, while relatively unchanged in the North and easing in the West. Good competition resulted in prices rises across all types in all centres on Thursday.

Crossbred types eased on Wednesday, but recovered partially on Thursday. Their average AWEX MPGs finished down by around 0.5% for the week. It was another good performance from this sector, as this was also achieved against the 2.1% appreciation of the US exchange rate.

It was a better, but mixed, overall week for oddments, with some prices down and others up. The average Merino Cardings Price Guide was down by 4¢ for the week, compared with falls of 9¢, 28¢ and 36¢ over the three previous sales since the end of the mid-year break.

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

Sales will be held in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle next week, when 38,669 bales are currently rostered for sale. Present estimates for the following two sales (Weeks 11 and 12) are 41,426 and 48,100 bales, respectively; an increase of 9.8% over the three sale period when compared with last year.

The New Zealand Merino Company is rostered to offer 1,000 bales in Melbourne next week and 3,000 bales in Week 12.

In South African sales, the Cape Wools Indicator was up by 2.5% since last week against a 1.1% appreciation of the Rand against the US Dollar and a 0.9% appreciation against the Euro. 6,128 bales were on offer.

Click here for chart and tables

Australian Wool Industries Secretariat

More Textiles News - Australia...