The 25th sale of the 2019-20 South African wool season was held this week with 5,382 bales on offer, of which 87.9% were sold. The wool market closed 6.4% (988 points) up at R165.57 a kg clean.
This week, the rand was 9.8% weaker against the US dollar and 9.5% weaker against the euro, compared with the average rate at the previous sale. Thus, the market weakened 3.1% in US dollar terms.
Amid the lockdown in South Africa to contain the spread of coronavirus, an electronic sale of bales was already in brokers’ stores, valued and tested for smooth operation this week. It was the first wool sale of its kind and despite having teething problems and being time consuming, the sale was completed successfully over the two-day period.
Selections consisted of mixed-length long and medium wools. There was better demand for the fine microns, with some of the stronger micron wools experiencing downward pressure, with some hesitancy evident from buying houses. The market however performed well to gain from the previous sale; prices were down in US dollar terms and performed at levels comparable to the Australian market.
The major buyers were: Lempriere SA (2,528), Standard Wool SA (1,028), Stucken & Co (612), and Modiano SA (499).
The average clean prices for the selection within the different micron categories for good top-making (MF5), long fleeces were as follows: 18 microns increased 13.1% to close at R188.73 a kg; 18.5 microns moved 7% up to close at R176.24 a kg; 19 microns gained 7% to close at R172.83 a kg; 19.5 microns strengthened by 5.2% to close at R169.40 a kg; 20 microns were 5.3% stronger to close at R169.20 a kg; 20.5 microns won 6.3% to close at R168.90 a kg; 21 microns recovered 7.8% to close at R164.97 a kg; 21.5 microns improved by 3.3% to close at R167.40kg; 22 microns rose 6.2% to close at 165.56 a kg; and 22.5 microns declined by 0.2% to close at R156.02 a kg.
The next sale will be held on 30 April 2020 with 14,197 bales on offer.
