Wool market finishes 0.6% lower

14 Sep '09

4 min read

The Australian wool market finished 0.6% lower, on average, at sales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle this week against an increase of 3.0% in the US exchange rate.

The AWEX EMI fell by 2¢ (-0.2%), ending the week at 813¢/kg. This reflected falls of 3¢ (-0.4%) in the North and 1¢ ( 0.1%) in the South, with their corresponding Regional Indicators finishing the week at 833¢ and 796¢ clean, respectively. The Western Indicator fell by 10¢ (-1.2%), finishing the week at 794¢.

In a two day sale of Australian wool in Sydney and Melbourne, the AWEX EMI fell by 12¢ on Wednesday and rose by 10¢ on Thursday. The Western Indicator fell by 10¢ on Wednesday in a one day sale in Fremantle.

42,433 bales were on offer, compared with 42,167 bales last week, of which 12.1% were passed in, comprised of 9.6% in Sydney, 8.7% in Melbourne and 25.0% in Fremantle. Pass-in rates for Merino fleece and skirtings were 13.9% and 11.0%, respectively. 1,330 bales (3.0%) from the expected offering of 43,763 bales were withdrawn prior to sale and re-offered bales made up 10.9% of the final offering. 37,281 bales were cleared to the trade.

The New Zealand Merino Company also offered 1,928 bales in Melbourne on Tuesday of which 28.4% were passed in. 33 bales (1.7%) were withdrawn prior to sale and 5.0% of the bales were re-offers.

The US exchange rate (source RBA) was 1.57¢ higher on Monday when compared with Thursday of last week. It was then up by a further 0.48¢ on Tuesday, by 0.35¢ on Wednesday and by 0.07¢ on Thursday to close at 86.08¢, up 2.47¢ (+3.0%) since the last sale. The exchange rate against the Euro rose by 0.46 Euro cents (+0.8%) to close at 59.03 Euro cents on Thursday night. When looked at in other currencies, the AWEX EMI moved up by 19¢ (+2.8%) in US terms and by 3¢ (+0.6%) in Euro terms when compared with the previous sale.

It was another week in which the appreciation of the US exchange rate masked the true level of demand and resulted in a 2¢ fall in the EMI in spite of a 19¢ increase in US currency. Competition was good, particularly on Thursday when a new level appears to have been set. While demand was strong, the dominance of China meant that there were smaller differences in the price paid for the better wools when compared with the average and lesser types.

Changes in the Average AWEX Micron Price Guides (MPGs) for Merino wools varied from -2.1% (16.5 microns) to +0.6% (19.0 microns) with the downward movements greatest among the ultrafine wools. Average MPGs were down by 28¢ clean for 16.5 microns, by 18¢ for 17.0 microns, by 16¢ for 17.5 microns, by 3¢ for 18.0 microns, by 6¢ for 18.5 microns, up by 6¢ for 19.0 microns and by 4¢ for 19.5 microns. The 20.0 micron wool average MPG was up by 3¢ clean, 21.0 microns by 2¢, 22.0 microns was down by 2¢, 23.0 microns by 6¢, and 24.0 microns was unchanged.

Merino skirtings eased on Wednesday in line with the falls in prices for fleece wools, but regained nearly all of those losses on Thursday. The average AWEX MPG's were down marginally for all crossbred types, apart from 28 micron wools in the South on Wednesday where the MPG was down by 22¢. On the other hand, the 25 micron MPG was up by 33¢ in Melbourne over the two days. Oddments were in very keen demand with the AWEX average Merino Cardings MPG up by 11¢ (2.0%).

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