Micron Price Guides drops

14 Nov '11

4 min read

Australian Wool Industries Secretariat Inc (AWIS) releases wool sale report for the week ending November 11.

The Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX) Regional Indicators finished 0.5% lower, on average, at sales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle this week when the US exchange rate fell by 1%.

The Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) at 1219¢ was 18.1% higher than in the same week last year; and the season average Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) of 1247¢ is 38.1% higher than the season average at the end of Week 19 last season.

Although down, the market performed well this week under the circumstances that developed in Italy during the week. The market eased. But, it performed better than global share markets, which eased by 2 to 3% on Thursday (and by 2.3% in Australia). Overall falls in the individual Micron Price Guides were generally small for the week and there were small gains among the broader Merinos.

The fall in the Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) in US currency was 1.4%.

The greater fall in the Western Indicator was due to there being no sale there last Thursday, when the Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) fell by 4¢.

Upcoming offerings remain down on last year. But, as said last week, offerings were exceptionally high at this time last year as shearing caught up on earlier wet weather delays and wool was released from store in response to the rising market.

41,841 bales were on offer, compared with 38,655 bales last week. 9.4% were passed in, comprised of 5.9% in Sydney, 10.3% in Melbourne and 12.4% in Fremantle. Pass-in rates for Merino fleece and skirtings were 8.5% and 6.1%, respectively.

37,924 bales were cleared to the trade.

The week-on-week fall of 1% in the US exchange rate did not reflect the volatility seen during the week. It rose by 1.3% on Friday of the previous week to almost 104¢, as resolution of the political and economic issues in Greece appeared to be changing in a positive manner. The exchange rate then fell by 2.3% on Thursday following the fall in global economic confidence that arose from concern over Italy's sovereign debt; and the interest rate on Italian bonds moved towards 7%. 7% was a critical interest rate in both Ireland and Portugal prior to their “bail outs”.

The market got off to a steady start, after the softer market of last Thursday. The day finished with strong competition for 22 to 24 micron wools in the East and an unchanged Eastern Market Indicator (EMI). There was a mixture of up and down movements in the Micron Price Guide (MPGs) for other micron wools. Thursday's market eased as the latest Euro crisis took hold in Italy. The easing was not surprising and followed a pattern seen many times in the last three years. The 22 to 24 micron wools held onto enough of Wednesday's gains to finish the sale slightly up on the previous week.

Skirting types again started the week well; and then defied the trend in the fleece types on Thursday when they lifted in price.

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