AWEX wool indicator finishes 3.5% higher last week

17 Sep '12

4 min read

The week ended with the United States announcement of the third round of “Quantitative Easing”. The Federal Reserve announced that interest rates will be held at close to zero, at least until mid-2015, and that $140 billion will be injected into the US economy each month until employment grows. As expected, share markets reacted favourably and the Australia / US exchange rate rose. The closing Reserve Bank exchange rate on Friday was 105.79¢, up by 1.09¢ since the previous day and only just below the season peak.

Skirtings followed fleece types up in all centres on Wednesday and made further rises on Thursday. Crossbreds had another good week, apart from a slow start in the North on Wednesday. The limited supply of 32 micron wools was in very keen demand resulting in a 7.9% increase in its average AWEX Micron Price Guide (MPG). It was also a very good week for all oddment types, with significant rises reported on both days.

Buyers for China were dominant this week, followed by strong support from buyers for Europe and India. Sales will be held in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle next week, when 43,318 bales are currently rostered for sale. Present estimates for the following two sales (Weeks 13 and 14) are 37,610 and 46,300 bales, respectively; a decrease of 5.8% over the three sale period when compared with last year.

The New Zealand Merino Company is rostered to offer 1,000 bales in Melbourne next week and 2,000 bales in Week 14. In South African sales, the Cape Wools Indicator was up by 2.7% since last week against a 3.2% appreciation of the Rand against the US Dollar and a 0.3% appreciation against the Euro. 4,681 bales were on offer.

Australian Wool Industries Secretariat Inc (AWIS)

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