Australian wool market finishes 3.6% higher

05 Oct '09

4 min read

The Australian wool market finished 3.6% higher, on average, at sales in Newcastle, Melbourne and Fremantle this week when the US exchange rate increased by 0.7%.

The AWEX EMI rose by 30¢ (+3.5%), ending the week at 876¢/kg. This reflected rises of 35¢ (+4.0%) in the North and 27¢(+3.3%)in the South, with their corresponding Regional Indicators finishing the week at 900¢ and 856¢ clean, respectively. The Western Indicator rose by 29¢ (+3.5%), finishing the week at 864¢.

In a three day sale in Newcastle and a two day sale in Melbourne, the AWEX EMI rose by 2¢ on Tuesday, by 9¢ on Wednesday and by 19¢ on Thursday. The Western Indicator rose by 29¢ on Wednesday in a one day sale in Fremantle. 45,780 bales were on offer, compared with 41,516 bales last week, of which 4.7% were passed in, comprised of 4.4% in Newcastle, 3.5% in Melbourne and 8.7% in Fremantle. Pass-in rates for Merino fleece and skirtings were 4.8% and 2.5%, respectively. 1,496 bales (3.2%) from the expected offering of 47,276 bales were withdrawn prior to sale and re-offered bales made up 7.6% of the final offering. 43,620 bales were cleared to the trade.

The US exchange rate (source RBA) was 1.04¢ lower on Monday when compared with Thursday of last week. It was then up by 1.33¢ on Tuesday, by 0.46¢ on Wednesday, breaking the 88¢ barrier, and was down by 0.12¢ on Thursday to close at 87.89¢, up 0.63¢(+0.7%) since the last sale.The exchange rate against the Euro rose by 1.13 Euro cents (+1.9%) to close at 60.39 Euro cents on Thursday night.

When looked at in other currencies, the AWEX EMI moved up by 32¢ (+4.3%) in US terms and by 28¢ (+5.6%) in Euro terms when compared with the previous sale. It was another strong finish to the market this week, with the EMI up by 2.2% and the Northern Indicator up by 2.9% in Newcastle on Thursday. Although it was a strong market in Newcastle, the softer presence of buyers for Italy meant that the premiums normally enjoyed by the better wool types were not present in that market.

Competition was very keen in Fremantle on Wednesday, with the trade quoting prices there as being well up on those in the East Changes in the Average AWEX Micron Price Guides (MPGs) for Merino wools varied from +0.4% (16.5 microns) to +5.4% (20.0 and 21.0 microns) with the greatest increases from 18.5 to 21.0 microns. Average MPGs were up by 5¢ clean for 16.5 microns, by 30¢ for 17.0 microns, by 26¢ for 17.5 microns, by 28¢ for 18.0 microns, by 39¢ for 18.5 microns, by 34¢ for 19.0 microns and by 48¢ for 19.5 microns. The 20.0 micron wool average MPG was up by 51¢ clean, 21.0 microns by 49¢, 22.0 microns by 24¢, 23.0 microns by 18¢, and 24.0 microns by 14¢.

Competition continued to be very strong for Merino skirtings which had a pass-in rate of 2.5% this week. Fine and coarse crossbred types did well with rises of around 3% in their average MPGs, whereas the average MPGs for medium types moved up by around 0.5%.Oddments had another very good week, with the Merino Cardings average MPG up by 8¢ (+1.4%).

More Textiles News - Australia...