AWEX EMI drop by 37¢

26 Sep '08

3 min read

In a week in which the exchange rate rose sharply against the US dollar, the Australian wool market finished 3.7% lower, on average, at sales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle this week.

The AWEX EMI fell by 37¢ (-4.1%), ending the week at 859¢/kg. This reflected falls of 33¢ (-3.5%) in the North and 41¢ (-4.8%) in the South, with their corresponding Regional Indicators finishing the week at 906¢ and 819¢ clean, respectively. The Western Indicator fell by 23¢ (-2.7%), finishing the week at 822¢.

In a three day sale in Sydney and Melbourne, the AWEX EMI fell by 30¢ on Tuesday, by 5¢ on Wednesday and by 2¢ on Thursday. The Western Indicator fell by 23¢ on Wednesday and was unchanged on Thursday in a two day sale in Fremantle.

55,832 bales were on offer, compared with 49,532 bales last week, of which 22.6% were passed in, comprised of 18.4% in Sydney, 25.6% in Melbourne and 23.9% in Fremantle. Pass-in rates for Merino fleece and skirtings were 28.0% and 13.2%, respectively. 2,202 bales (3.8%) were withdrawn prior to sale and re-offered bales made up 10.1% of this week's offering.

The offering finished up smaller than last week's forecast of 61,283 bales. No doubt, due to the “recovery” in the US exchange rate early in the week.

The New Zealand Merino Company also offered 2,974 bales in Melbourne on Wednesday of which 8.1% were passed in. 16 bales (0.5%) were withdrawn prior to sale and 2.3% of the bales were re-offers.

The US exchange rate (source RBA) was 3.79¢ higher on Monday when compared with Thursday of last week. It was then up by a further 1.14¢ on Tuesday, down by 0.63¢ on Wednesday and up by 0.06¢ on Thursday to close at 83.72¢, up 4.36¢ (+5.5%) since the last sale.

The exchange rate against the Euro rose by 1.63 Euro cents (+2.9%) to close at 56.90 Euro cents on Thursday night. When looked at in other currencies, the AWEX EMI moved up by 8¢ (+1.1%) in US terms and was down by 6¢ (-1.2%) in Euro terms when compared with the previous sale.

Prices came down across all types and micron ranges in a direct response to the increase in the US exchange rate. Average AWEX Micron Price Guides (MPGs) were down by 7¢ clean for 16.5 microns, by 29¢ for 17.0 microns, by 28¢ for 17.5 microns, by 29¢ for 18.0 microns, by 36¢ for 18.5 microns, by 43¢ for 19.0 microns and by 44¢ for 19.5 microns. The 20.0 micron wool average MPG was down by 36¢ clean, 21.0 microns by 45¢, 22.0 microns by 39¢, 23.0 microns by 40¢, and 24.0 microns by 44¢.

Prices for skirting types also moved in line with the change in the exchange rate, whereas oddments appeared to be less affected. Fine and medium crossbred were affected similarly to Merino fleece types and coarse crossbreds were less affected.

Buyers for China were again dominant.

Sales will be held in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle next week, when 48,201 bales are currently rostered for sale. Present estimates for the following two sales are 52,600 (including 4,000 bales from New Zealand) and 54,800 bales, respectively an increase of 21.9% over the three sale period when compared with last year. Note, there was one less Fremantle sale in the same period last year.

In South African sales, the Cape Wools Indicator was up by 0.1% since last week against a 1.2% appreciation of the Rand against the US Dollar and a 2.3% depreciation against the Euro.

Australian Wool Innovation Limited

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