In a reversal of the general trend over the past couple of years, buyer support was stronger for medium/broad wool types rather than the finer merino fleeces.

The Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) followed last weeks path, pulled downwards by the finer types, losing 11ȼ this week, to 1319ȼ/kg. Due to a continued weakening in the Aussie dollar (down 0.16ȼ), in US dollar terms, the EMI fell 29ȼ to 886ȼ/kg, the last time it was this low was in December 2020.

This week buyer bidding sentiment was stronger for the medium/broader type wools while there was more stubbornness towards the finer microns. 19 -22 MPG’s lifted across all three states, with the exception of the 20 MPG in Melbourne which stayed put. Lifts between 3 to 31 cents were achieved for the rest of the indicators.

The finer microns felt resistance from the get-go and have thus fallen significantly from the week prior. For 18.5 micron and finer, falls between 15 to 135 cents were recorded. The 16.5 MPG took the crown for the worst performer this week, dropping 135ȼ to 2712 ȼ/kg. It’s still at a relatively high price and also at a generous premium to the medium/broader microns, as has been that way since early 2021, note the difference between the 17MPG & 21MPG for Melbourne. (Figure 1)

Western Market Indicator (WMI) indicator didn’t follow it’s eastern counter parts this week, finish the week 12 cents higher to 1453ȼ/kg. Again, medium wool types outstanding performers, bringing the WMI up.

Looking at crossbreds, there was a big jump in the 26 MPG for Melbourne, up 25ȼ to 694ȼ/kg, while the 28 & 30 MPG’s fell marginally.

Cardings movements were minimal, up 3ȼ in Sydney, 6ȼ in Melbourne and no movement for Fremantle, all sitting within the 830-890ȼ/kg range.

There were 37,352 bales on offer this week and the pass-in rate was a little lower than last week at 11.1%, resulting in 33,193 bales sold. Average bales sold this season is around 2,000 higher than last season.

This week on Mecardo, Andrew Woods crunches the numbers on wool declared as CM-NM in Australia, suggesting an increase in adoption to quality integrity schemes, of which being CM-NM is mandatory, is at a “structural roadblock”, due to the relative low proportion of CM-NM making up auction sales still, despite significant premiums being achieved for these types over the past few years. You can read the full article here.

Andrew also took a look at seasonal supply patterns in the greasy wool market, with some interesting discoveries in terms of significant changes to seasonal supply.  

The week ahead….

Next week there’s 39,719 bales on offer currently across the 3 main selling centres. As noted by Andrew Woods, international buyer sentiment becomes a little surer after the autumn fashion trends become clearer in Europe.

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Data sources:

AWEX, AWI, Mecardo

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