Crossbred wool prices eased by 15 to 20¢ clean over week

23 Mar '07

4 min read

In a week in which the US exchange rate appreciated by 2.5%, the Australian wool market finished 1.9% lower, on average, at sales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle this week.

The AWEX EMI fell by 19¢ (-2.0%), ending the week at 943¢/kg clean. This reflected decreases of 20¢ (2.0%) in the North and 17¢ (-1.8%) in the South, with their corresponding Regional Indicators finishing the week at 977¢ and 915¢ clean respectively. The Western Indicator decreased by 18¢ (-1.9%), finishing the week at 951¢/kg clean. The market has returned to where it was two weeks ago, with the equal second highest closing EMI of the season.

When compared with the start of the upward movement of the market in October, the EMI and the Northern, Southern, and Western Indicators are up by 202¢ (27.3%), 211¢ (27.5%), 195¢ (27.1%) and 234¢ (32.6%), respectively. 19 to 23 average AWEX Micron Price Guides are up by 228¢ to 256¢ over the period and by 166¢ for 24 micron wools. At the fine end, the changes are 103¢ for 17 micron wool, 146¢ for 17.5, 166¢ for 18 and 199¢ for 18.5 micron wool.

63,558 bales were on offer, compared with 50,815 last week and 9,000 more than forecast at the beginning of last week. 14.6% were passed in, comprised of 10.5% in Sydney, 12.9% in Melbourne and 20.4% in Fremantle. Pass in rates for Merino fleece and skirtings were 19.0% and 5.7% respectively. 3,413 bales (5.1%) were withdrawn prior to sale and re-offered wools made up 12.9% of this week's offering.

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