AWEX wool indicator finishes 0.8% lower last week

Australian Wool Industries Secretariat Inc (AWIS) releases wool sale report for the week ending August 24. The Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX) Regional Indicators finished 0.8% lower, on average, at sales in Sydney and Melbourne this week when the US exchange rate rose by 0.3%.  It was a much stronger finish to the market after the falls since sales resumed two weeks ago.

 

The market opened on a further downward note in Melbourne on Tuesday, when the Southern Indicator was down by 17¢ although the US exchange rate had eased slightly.  The greatest falls were at the fine end.  Wednesday’s market was down slightly for the day, but did show some more encouraging signs that were confirmed on Thursday when the Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) rose by 9¢ in Australian currency and by 17¢ in US currency.  The greatest gains were from 19.5 to 21 microns and trade reports described the market as “firm” with a “lot of interest”.

 

The improving market conditions as the week progressed resulted in the pass-in rate dropping from 16.7% on Tuesday to 9.6% on Thursday.

 

The Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) is down by 129¢ (-12.0%) since the start of the season and is 323¢ less than in the same week last year.

 

In other countries, there were no sales in South Africa or New Zealand this week. Among other fibres, December Futures for cotton rose by 3.0% during the week, closing at 75.21 US¢ on Friday.

 

34,190 bales were on offer, compared with 40,404 bales last week (when all three regions sold).  12.5% were passed in, comprised of 11.1% in Sydney and 13.4% in Melbourne.  Pass-in rates for Merino fleece and skirtings were 13.9% and 11.4%, respectively. 29,923 bales were cleared to the trade.

 

The year-to-date offering is continues to be down on last year.  It is currently 35,306 bales less (-14.7%) than at the end of the same week last year.  Forecast offerings for the next three sales indicate that this figure could come back to around -8.5% over this period.

 

The New Zealand Merino Company also offered 503 bales in Melbourne on Wednesday, of which 53.1% were passed in.  18.9% of the bales were re-offers.