Merino skirtings in very keen demand

22 Aug '09

4 min read

The Australian wool market finished a further 2.6% higher, on average, at sales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle this week. The AWEX EMI rose by 20¢ (+2.5%), ending the week at 823¢/kg. This reflected rises of 23¢ (+2.8%) in the North and 17¢ (+2.2%) in the South, with their corresponding Regional Indicators finishing the week at 845¢ and 806¢ clean, respectively. The Western Indicator rose by 23¢ (+2.9%), finishing the week at 805¢. It is the first time that all Regional Indications have exceeded 800¢ since mid-October last year.

In a two day sale in Sydney and Melbourne, the AWEX EMI rose by 18¢ on Wednesday and by 2¢ on Thursday. The Western Indicator rose by 23¢ on Wednesday in a one day sale in Fremantle.

33,208 bales were on offer, compared with 35,921 bales last week, of which 5.1% were passed in, comprised of 3.7% in Sydney, 5.8% in Melbourne and 6.1% in Fremantle. Pass-in rates for Merino fleece and skirtings were 6.0% and 2.3%, respectively. 1,582 bales (4.5%) from the expected offering of 34,790 bales were withdrawn prior to sale and re-offered bales made up 15.1% of the final offering. 31,511 bales were cleared to the trade.

The US exchange rate (source RBA) was 1.53¢ lower on Monday when compared with Thursday of last week. It was then up by 0.29¢ on Tuesday, by 0.04¢ on Wednesday and by 0.63¢ on Thursday to close at 83.09¢, down 0.57¢ (-0.7%) since the last sale. The exchange rate against the Euro fell by 0.43 Euro cents (-0.7%) to close at 58.37 Euro cents on Thursday night. When looked at in other currencies, the AWEX EMI moved up by 12¢ (+1.8%) in US terms and by 8¢ (+1.7%) in Euro terms when compared with the previous sale.

It was another good week, with the market up across all micron ranges (apart from 30 micron wools) and all types and in all currencies. Clearance rates were very good, particularly in the North on Wednesday when the pass-in rate was only 1.5%. Once again concerns about supply appear to be having a major effect on the market.

Changes in the Average AWEX Micron Price Guides (MPGs) for Merino wools varied from +1.0% (21.0 microns) to +3.0% (19.5 microns) with the upward movements slightly greater among the fine wools. Average MPGs were up by 24¢ for 17.0 microns, by 26¢ for 17.5 microns, by 27¢ for 18.0 microns, by 20¢ for 18.5 microns, by 23¢ for 19.0 microns and by 28¢ for 19.5 microns. The 20.0 micron wool average MPG was up by 20¢ clean, 21.0 microns by 8¢, 22.0 microns by 12¢, 23.0 microns by 13¢, and 24.0 microns by 16¢.

19.5 and 20.0 average MPGs are up by 6.3% and 7.1% respectively since Sale 01, while others in the 19.0 to 24.0 range are up by 4.4% to 5.6%, Average MPGs for wools finer than 19.0 microns are up by around 3% apart from the 17.0 average MPG which is down slightly.
Merino skirtings were in very keen demand, with the pass-in rate down to 2.2%. The average MPG for 26.0 micron wools was up by 16¢ (+2.5%), whereas the average MPGs for 28.0 and 32.0 micron wools were up by 2¢ and 1¢ and the 30.0 micron MPG was down by 1¢. Oddments made good gains with the average Merino Cardings MPG up by 17¢ (+3.2%).

More Textiles News - Australia...