The 12th sale of the 2019-20 wool season held on 20-21 November had 13 357 bales on offer of which 92.3% was sold. The market witnessed downward pressure this week, with the key indicator closing down 3% (-523 points) at R169,41 a kg clean. The Cape Wools All Wool Indicator closed 4.4% lower. The Rand was 0.9% stronger against the US Dollar and 0.2% stronger against the Euro, compared with the average rate at the previous sale. The market weakened by 2.1% in US Dollar terms.
The market kicked off sale under subdued conditions and recovered somewhat on day two, although most categories were down from the previous week. Subdued competition was noticeable on the auction floor, although some buyers could still secure their stock supply in buyers’ favour. The result also followed the downward trend in the Australian market, with some recovery recorded on the day two of sale there, with added downward pressure from the stronger SA currency. Very little short wools were on offer and quantities are too low to do price comparisons.
Major buyers were: Modiano SA (4,865), Standard Wool SA (4,474), Lempriere SA (1,210) and Tianyu SA (690).
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 4.6% to close at R182.78 a kg; 18.5 microns moved 4% down to close at R179.91 a kg; 19 microns lost 3.3% to close at R178.05 a kg; 19.5 microns weakened by 3.4% to close at R174.14 a kg; 20 microns was 2.7% weaker to close at R171.95 a kg; 20.5 microns lost 2.9% to close at R169.48 a kg; 21 microns lost 1.5% to close at R174.52 a kg; 21.5 microns tumbled by 3.4% to close at R171.04 a kg; 22 microns fell 1.9% to close at 171.23 a kg and 22.5 microns declined by 5.8% to close at R163.30 a kg.
The next sale scheduled on 28 November 2019 will have about 13,582 bales put on sale.
Source: Cape Wools
