Superfine & ultrafine wools again lead the market

27 Mar '09

4 min read

The Australian wool market finished 1.1% higher, on average, at sales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle this week.

The AWEX EMI rose by 8¢ (+1.1%), ending the week at 751¢/kg. This reflected rises of 8¢ (+1.0%) in the North and 8¢ (+1.1%) in the South, with their corresponding Regional Indicators finishing the week at 775¢ and 730¢ clean, respectively. The Western Indicator rose by 8¢ (+1.1%), finishing the week at 708¢.

In a two day sale in Sydney and Melbourne, the AWEX EMI was unchanged on Wednesday and rose by 8¢ on Thursday. The Western Indicator rose by 1¢ on Wednesday and by 7¢ on Thursday in a two day sale in Fremantle.

45,712 bales were on offer, compared with 45,293 bales last week, of which 7.8% were passed in, comprised of 5.5% in Sydney, 9.2% in Melbourne and 8.0% in Fremantle. Pass-in rates for Merino fleece and skirtings were 8.0% and 4.3%, respectively. 1,739 bales (3.7%) were withdrawn prior to sale and re-offered bales made up 11.3% of this week's offering.

The New Zealand Merino Company also offered 1,095 bales in Melbourne on Thursday of which 24.8% were passed in. 68 bales (5.8%) were withdrawn prior to sale and 46.0% of the bales were re-offers.

The US exchange rate (source RBA) was 2.12¢ higher on Monday when compared with Thursday of last week. It was then up by a further 0.79¢ on Tuesday, down by 0.71¢ on Wednesday and up by 0.09¢ on Thursday to close at 69.83¢, up 2.29¢ (+3.4%) since the last sale and by 7.7% in the last two weeks. The exchange rate against the Euro rose by 1.30 Euro cents (+2.6%) to close at 51.48 Euro cents on Thursday night. When looked at in other currencies, the AWEX EMI moved up by 22¢ (+4.4%) in US terms and by 14¢ (+3.8%) in Euro terms when compared with the previous sale.

The AWEX EMI has moved up by 26¢ in A$, by 58¢ in US Currency and by 17¢ in Euro terms since the beginning of March.

It was another good week with widespread competition, rises across all types and micron ranges apart from the crossbreds and lower than average pass-in rates. Superfine and ultrafine wools again led the market. The increases occurred despite the further appreciation in the US exchange rate, as was the case last week.

Changes in the Average AWEX Micron Price Guides (MPGs) for Merino wools varied from +0.9% (23.0 microns) to +2.8% (16.5 microns) with the biggest rises among the fine wools. Average MPGs were up by 39¢ clean for 16.5 microns, by 18¢ for 17.0 microns, by 30¢ for 17.5 microns, by 15¢ for 18.0 microns, by 22¢ for 18.5 microns, by 11¢ for 19.0 microns and by 9¢ for 19.5 microns. The 20.0 micron wool average MPG was up by 8¢ clean, 21.0 microns by 9¢, 22.0 microns by 7¢, 23.0 microns by 6¢, and 24.0 microns by 8¢.

Merino skirtings were in strong demand on Thursday after a mixed day on Wednesday, with price increases up to 20¢ greasy reported in the South on Thursday. The pass-in rate of 4.3% was the lowest for skirtings types this season. Crossbred types did not do as well as the Merinos, with falls of 4 to 6¢ in their Average MPGs. The oddment results were mixed over both days with the Merino Cardings Average MPG finishing up by 3¢ for the week.

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