Australian wool market upbeat this week

25 Jan '08

4 min read

The Australian wool market finished 0.9% higher, on average, at sales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle this week.

The AWEX EMI rose by 9¢ (+0.9%), ending the week at 1045¢/kg. This reflected increases of 7¢ (+0.6%) in the North and 11¢ (+1.1%) in the South, with their corresponding Regional Indicators finishing the week at 1086¢ and 1010¢ clean, respectively. The Western Indicator rose by 10¢ (+1.0%), finishing the week at 1053¢.

In a two day sale in Sydney and Melbourne, the AWEX EMI rose by 13¢ on Wednesday before falling by 4¢ on Thursday when there was an appreciation in the US exchange rate. The Western Indicator up by 14¢ on Wednesday and down by 4¢ on Thursday in a two day sale in Fremantle.

All four Indicators are at their season high and are at their highest levels since the 2002/03 season when the EMI peaked at 1189¢, but at a much lower exchange rate.

49,903 bales were on offer, compared with 69,947 bales last week, of which 10.2% were passed in, comprised of 6.5% in Sydney, 6.3% in Melbourne and 19.2% in Fremantle. Pass-in rates for Merino fleece and skirtings were 11.3% and 7.2%, respectively. 827 bales (1.6%) were withdrawn prior to sale and re-offered bales made up 9.9% of this week's offering.

In a fluctuating week, the US exchange rate (source RBA) was 0.38¢ lower on Monday when compared with Thursday of last week. It was down by a further 1.85¢ on Tuesday to 85.77¢, up by 0.61¢ on Wednesday and by 1.08¢ on Thursday to close at 87.46¢, down 0.54¢ (-0.6%) since the last sale.

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