Another week another slide

The fine end of the offering was the weak link, with the Sydney market posting 40 to 50-cent retracements for 18 MPG & finer.  Melbourne was not far behind those falls albeit slightly better. The 18 MPG has now lost 100 ȼ since December.

Mid microns performed better, with the 20 MPG in Sydney quoted 14 cents better for the week, and the Melbourne auction showing a 4 to 9 cent gain across the 19 to 20 MPG range.

Crossbred types were mixed, the stronger 30 to 32 MPG lots lifted, bringing them back to levels last seen in October/November last year. It was not so good for finer crossbreds, with the 26 MPG easing 17ȼ.

Cardings held firm to slightly better in all centres across the week. Initially, 42,758 bales were rostered, with 40,472 finally offered and with a 9.5% pass-in rate, 36,617 were sold. The average weekly bales sold for the season is currently 39K bales.

This week on Mecardo, Andrew Woods investigated crossbred wool prices in other Crossbred wool-producing countries (read here). In Australia, Crossbred wool now accounts for around 22% of the national wool clip (based on clean volumes sold at auction). It is worth following prices in other countries to watch for market signals that will translate to Australian prices.