Wool market finishes 1.5% lower

16 Nov '09

4 min read

Australian wool market finished 1.5% lower, on average, at sales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle this week when the exchange rate against the US$ rose by 3.1% to 93.38¢, its highest value since July 2008.

The AWEX Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) fell by 14¢ (-1.6%), ending the week at 853¢/kg. This reflected falls of 10¢ ( 1.1%) in the North and 18¢ (-2.1%) in the South, with their corresponding Regional Indicators finishing the week at 880¢ and 831¢ clean, respectively. The Western Indicator fell by 11¢ (-1.3%), finishing the week at 860¢.

In a two day sale in Sydney and Melbourne, the AWEX EMI fell by 12¢ on Wednesday and by 2¢ on Thursday. The Western Indicator fell by 9¢ on Wednesday and by 2¢ on Thursday in a two day sale in Fremantle.

46,509 bales were on offer, compared with 45,597 bales last week, of which 14.4% were passed in, comprised of 6.8% in Sydney, 17.7% in Melbourne and 15.7% in Fremantle. Pass-in rates for Merino fleece and skirtings were 16.9% and 9.6%, respectively. 1,624 bales (3.4%) from the expected offering of 48,133 bales were withdrawn prior to sale and re-offered bales made up 9.6% of the final offering. 39,828 bales were cleared to the trade.

The US exchange rate (source RBA) was 2.10¢ higher on Monday when compared with Thursday of last week. It was then up by a further 0.15¢ on Tuesday, by 0.25¢ on Wednesday and by 0.34¢ on Thursday to close at 93.38¢, up 2.84¢ (+3.1%) since the last sale. The exchange rate against the Euro rose by 1.28 Euro cents (+2.1%) to close at 62.29 Euro cents on Thursday night. When looked at in other currencies, the AWEX EMI moved up by 12¢ (+1.5%) in US terms and by 2¢ (+0.4%) in Euro terms when compared with the previous sale.

It was a good market from a global point of view. But, unfortunately, the 3.1% increase in the US exchange rate meant that prices in Australian currency came down for wool growers apart from some oddments. When looked at in US terms, all average AWEX Micron Price Guides (MPGs) were up in US currency other than the 28.0 micron MPG.

Changes in the Average AWEX Micron Price Guides (MPGs) for Merino wools varied from -2.3% (19.5 microns) to -0.6% (22.0 microns). Average MPGs were down by 12¢ clean for 16.5 microns, by 26¢ for 17.0 microns, by 16¢ for 17.5 microns, by 10¢ for 18.0 microns, by 22¢ for 18.5 microns, by 16¢ for 19.0 microns and by 22¢ for 19.5 microns. The 20.0 micron wool average MPG was down by 11¢ clean, 21.0 microns by 13¢, 22.0 microns by 5¢, 23.0 microns by 7¢, and 24.0 microns by 17¢.

When looking at the season to date, the greatest changes are +99¢ (12.3%) in the 20.0 MPG and +90¢ (11.4%) for 21.0 MPG.

Merino skirtings were a bit mixed, with prices generally down in Australian currency, but up in US currency. Finer types with low VM came off sharply in Melbourne on Thursday, whereas the burrier types were less affected. All crossbred prices fell. But, as mentioned above, the falls were less than the change in the US exchanges rate except for 28.0 microns. Oddments were relatively unaffected, with the average AWEX Merino Cardings MPG falling by 5¢ (-0.9%).

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