AWIS wool market review

23 Feb '07

4 min read

The Australian wool market finished 1.0% lower, on average, at sales in Newcastle, Melbourne and Fremantle this week.

The AWEX EMI decreased by 10¢ (-1.1%), ending the week at 908¢/kg clean. This reflected decreases of 8¢ (0.8%) in the North and 12¢ (-1.3%) in the South, with their corresponding Regional Indicators finishing the week at 936¢ and 884¢ clean respectively. The Western Indicator decreased by 8¢ (-0.9%), finishing the week at 922¢/kg clean.

When compared with the start of the upward movement in the market in October, the EMI and the Northern, Southern, and Western Indicators are up by 167¢ (22.5%), 170¢ (22.2%), 164¢ (22.8%) and 205¢ (28.6%), respectively. 19 to 23 average AWEX Micron Price Guides are up by 183 to 228¢ over the period and by 148¢ for 24 micron wools. At the fine end, the changes are 88¢ for 17 micron wool, 102¢ for 17.5, 116¢ for 143 and 183¢ for 18.5 micron wool.

63,627 bales were on offer (compared with 73,411 last week), of which 12.1% were passed in, comprised of 8.4% in Newcastle, 10.9% in Melbourne and 18.5% in Fremantle. Pass in rates for Merino fleece and skirtings were 13.8% and 6.3% respectively. 1,880 bales (2.9%) were withdrawn prior to sale and re-offered wools made up 11.9% of this week's offering.

The US exchange rate was 0.36¢ higher on Monday when compared with the Thursday of last week. It decreased by 0.08¢ on Tuesday, increased by 0.06¢ on Wednesday and by 0.37¢ on Thursday to close at 79.10¢, up 0.71¢ (+0.9%) since the last sale. The exchange rate against the Euro increased by 0.57 Euro cents (+1.0%) to close at 60.25 Euro cents on Thursday night. When looked at in other currencies, the AWEX EMI decreased by 2¢ in US terms and by 1¢ in Euro terms when compared with the previous sale.

More Textiles News - Australia...