A tale of two currencies in the wool market

Shorn wool in heap in shearing shed

This week's wool market performance was a delicate balancing act, teetering between currency-driven gains and international headwinds. The Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) closed at 1,262¢, a modest 13¢ rise in local terms from the previous week. However, when converted to US dollars, the USD-EMI dropped by 34¢ to 753¢, a 4.3% drop.

Despite these market fluctuations, there were 32,458 bales sold with an overall offering of 34,168 bales nationally—down 4,261 bales from the previous week. The pass-in rate remained relatively stable at 5.0%, in line with the season’s average.

All three selling centres finished the week on a positive note. The Northern Market Indicator (NMI) gained 12¢ to close at 1,299¢/kg, the Southern Market Indicator (SMI) rose 14¢ to 1,237¢/kg, and the Western Market Indicator (WMI) added 11¢ to end at 1,425¢/kg.

In Sydney, 19.5 MPG lifted 29¢ to 1,568¢/kg, while 18.5 micron was up 25¢ to 1,621¢/kg. Melbourne recorded strong results in the finer microns, with 16.5 micron gaining 32¢ to 1,810¢/kg and 18.5 micron up 28¢ to 1,612¢/kg. Fremantle also posted solid gains, with 19.5 micron up 21¢ to 1,552¢/kg and 19.0 micron adding 20¢ to finish at 1,574¢/kg.

Superfine wools performed well across all centres, with gains in Sydney, Melbourne, and Fremantle. Merino cardings saw strong gains particularly in Fremantle, up 13 cents to 764 c/kg clean. The crossbred sector remained steady, with Melbourne’s 28 MPG  leading the way, up 15 cents to 460 c/kg.

This week, Mecardo’s Andrew Woods examined Queensland’s sheep and wool numbers (read article here), noting that despite historically low flock numbers, wool production in the region has shown resilience in recent years. He found that northern Queensland wool, particularly in the 18-20 micron range, continues to maintain a slight price premium.

Next week

Next week marks the final sale before the annual one-week Easter recess, with 43,678 bales currently rostered across the three centres. Sydney will host a feature sale at the Royal Easter Show.

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Data sources: AWEX, ICS, Mecardo

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