The 30th sale of the 2018-19 wool season held on 17 April saw 9,220 bales on offer, of which 86.5% were sold. The wool market closed 1.7% (342 points) down at R202.42 a kg clean, with the Cape Wools All Wool Indicator closing 1.7% lower.
This week saw the Rand 1.4% stronger against the US dollar and 0.8% stronger against the euro, compared with the average rate at the previous sale. The market weakened by 0.3% in US dollar terms.
The wool market performance was considerably well against the backdrop of the continued difficult trading environment, with the market shedding 1.7% from the previous sale and a sales clearance of 86.4%.
Long, good quality merino fleeces held their price levels, with medium and long wool once again experiencing downward pressure of up to 7%. The offering also consisted of a large volume of medium-length wool.
The major buyers were: G Modiano SA (3,075), Standard Wool SA (2,945), Tianyu SA (1,147) and Lempriere SA (263).
The average clean prices for the selection within the different micron categories for good top-making (MF5), long fleeces were as follows: 18 microns decreased 2.8% to close at R228.09 a kg; 18.5 microns moved 0.2% down to close at R224.97 a kg; 19 microns lost 0.6% to close at R220.95 a kg; 19.5 microns weakened by 0.2% to close at R217.80 a kg; 20 microns was 0.7% weaker to close at R214.88 a kg; 20.5 microns won 1.6% to close at R215.42 a kg; 21.0 microns recovered 0.6% to close at R213.07 a kg; 21.5 microns improved by 1% to close at R212.13 a kg; 22 microns rose 0.4% to close at 208.12 a kg and 22.5 microns declined 2.3% to close at R199.79 a kg.
The next sale is scheduled for 9 May 2019.
Source: Cape Wools
