The Australian wool market finished 2.2% lower, on average, at sales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle this week.
The AWEX EMI fell by 18¢ (-1.9%), ending the week at 920¢/kg. This reflected decreases of 16¢ (-1.6%) in the North and 21¢ (-2.3%) in the South, with their corresponding Regional Indicators finishing the week at 965¢ and 882¢ clean, respectively. The Western Indicator fell by 24¢ (-2.6%), finishing the week at 912¢.
In a two day sale in Sydney and Melbourne, the AWEX EMI fell by 14¢ on Tuesday and by 4¢ on Wednesday. The Western Indicator fell by 14¢ on Tuesday and by 10¢ on Wednesday in a two day sale in Fremantle.
48,390 bales were on offer, compared with 52,435 bales last week, of which 21.5% were passed in, comprised of 17.3% in Sydney, 18.6% in Melbourne and 32.4% in Fremantle. Pass-in rates for Merino fleece and skirtings were 22.8% and 21.9%, respectively. 2,430 bales (4.8%) were withdrawn prior to sale and re-offered bales made up 11.7% of this week's offering.
The US exchange rate (source RBA) was 0.21¢ higher on Monday when compared with Thursday of last week. It was up by a further 0.16¢ on Tuesday and by 0.81¢ on Wednesday to close at 94.97¢, up 1.18¢ (+1.3%) since the last sale.
The exchange rate against the Euro rose by 0.58 Euro cents (+1.0%) to close at 59.45 Euro cents on Wednesday night. When looked at in other currencies, the AWEX EMI decreased by 6¢ (-0.7%) in US terms and by 5¢ (-0.9%) in Euro terms when compared with the previous sale.