After a week of revival, the Australian wool market suffered further losses despite smaller offerings. Buyers were seeking stylish merino fleece lots with favourable additional measurements and similar skirting lots with low VM. The oddment sector performed strongly due to limited supply. Sales opened on Tuesday with only Melbourne and Sydney in operation and Fremantle operating on Thursday along with Melbourne. Last week, the markets had operated similarly, and prices had gained slightly after four straight weeks of losses.
The national offering was 21,101 bales, down 2,270 or 9.7% from last week. The national clearance rate fell to 87.5% from 91% last week.
On Tuesday, the EMI gained 1 AUD cent to 1,180 AUD cents a kg, or up 5 US cents to 769 US cents. Wednesday recorded losses of 25 AUD cents and 13 US cents. Thus, the EMI was down 8 AUD cents to close the week at 1,155 AUD cents a kg clean or at 756 US cents a kg, down 8 US cents.
AWEX reported turnover of wool sold was AUD$23.76m, taking the season’s total to AUD$1,855.62m.
In Sydney, the one-day sale on Thursday saw the market fall in line with Melbourne and Fremantle. All microns lost, with poorly measured, lower style lots down significantly. All types of merino skirtings eased, finishing lower. Crossbred lots were unchanged, while the oddment sector gained ground. Locks were dearer with crutchings and stains up on the week. The Northern Regional Indicator declined 37 AUD cents to 1,193 AUD cents a kg clean with the clearance rate falling to 88%, as against 95% last week.
In Melbourne, day one saw varied results across microns with 17, 19.5, 20 and 21 µm rising while all others, except the 16.5 µm, lost ground. This saw the Southern Regional Indicator gain on the day before losing on day two as all microns moved into negative territory. Lower style, high VM merino skirtings were out of favour, with MF4 lots unchanged on day one before weakening on day two. The crossbred sector maintained last week’s level as buyers favoured well-prepared lots. The oddment market strengthened on day one and all types and descriptions gained further on day two. The Southern Regional Indicator was down 15 AUD cents at 1,132 AUD cents a kg clean with the clearance rate at 88%, as against 89% last week.
Fremantle hosted a one-day sale on Tuesday which saw all microns lose ground. The finer end of the range (≤.19.5 µm) was most affected, losing the most. Merino skirtings also weakened. Finer (<18.5 µm), low VM (<3%) types were least affected and high (>5%) VM types saw the most losses. The oddment sector was more positive in terms of locks, while stains and crutchings were higher. The Western Regional Indicator eased 23 AUD cents to close the week at 1,214 AUD cents a kg clean, with the clearance rate declining to 85% from 93% last week.
Next week, the national offering is expected to reduce further to 20,359 bales. Sydney (Tuesday) and Fremantle (Wednesday) will again have one-day sales. Melbourne will sell over both days.
