Oddments in very keen demand

07 Jun '10

3 min read

The Australian wool market finished 0.8% higher, on average, at sales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle this week when the US exchange rate rose by 2.1%.

34,299 bales were on offer, compared with 40,009 bales last week. 8.0% were passed in, comprised of 2.4% in Sydney, 8.6% in Melbourne and 13.5% in Fremantle. Pass-in rates for Merino fleece and skirtings were 9.3% and 4.7%, respectively.

995 bales (2.8%) from the expected offering of 35,294 bales were withdrawn prior to sale and re-offered bales made up 17.2% of the final offering. 31,545 bales were cleared to the trade.

The financial markets have had a mixed week, with a lift in exchanges rates on Thursday after a week of losing ground.

It was another good market this week with strong demand, prices rising in both Australian and US currencies and the market again finishing on a strong note. The 2.3% increase in the US exchange rate on Thursday masked the 17¢ increase in the EMI in US currency on the day. Rises were seen across all wool types and all micron ranges other than the 23 (which were in more plentiful supply on Thursday), 24 and 25 Micron Price Guides. There was good support for the better wools and those with good Staple Strength values. Globally it was a small sale week with no South African sale, and with the smallest sale of the season to follow next week in Australia.

Skirting types continued to be in strong demand, particularly the finer and better types. It was generally another good week for crossbreds, particularly at the coarse end, where there were increases of around 2% in the average AWEX MPGs. Oddments were in very keen demand and picked up further on last week, when the cardings market showed some recovery after falling for the previous two months. The average AWEX Merino Cardings Price Guide was up by 25¢ (+4.1%).

Buyers for China were again dominant followed by buyers for India, Europe and Taiwan.

Sales will be held in Sydney and Melbourne next week, when 27,930 bales are currently rostered for sale. Present estimates for the following two sales (Weeks 51 and 52) are 36,835 and 30,400 bales, respectively; an increase of 16.4% over the three sale period when compared with last year. As mentioned last week, the large year-on-year difference in the three week's offering is due to a very small offering of 17,206 bales in Week 51 last year.

Sales are in recess in South Africa, with one more sale for the season later this month.

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Australian Wool Industries Secretariat

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