Wool clip on table

Sellers reduced the offering in response to the recent weaker market, however the falling prices continued, with the only positive movements recorded in the Crossbred section.

The Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) this week fell by 10ȼ to sit at 1186 ȼ/kg, while in US $ terms it was also easier giving up 5ȼ to sit at 779 ȼ/kg.

Prices continued their downward trend in all selling centres this week. Finer Merino fleece wools (16.5μm) continue to be out of favour with Merino skirtings following the trajectory of the fleece sector. Crossbreds had a solid week with all MPGs posting positive gains. The national offering contracted this week, with 37,757 bales offered for sale (12,148 bales fewer than last week). The national pass-in rate lifted 1.7% to 9.6%.

Andrew Woods this week looks at the profile of the New Zealand wool clip (read here). New Zealand is the big broad crossbred wool producer and exporter, as well as having a good quality merino clip which is similar in size to the New England regional clip. So, it is valuable to know what is going on in terms of production and price across the Tasman Sea.

While for the bulk of the New Zealand crossbred clip, Australian production is insignificant, there is a point of crossover for 30 micron and finer, where supply from both countries is of interest. For merino production, New Zealand production is of interest for the 17-micron and finer, as it is the equivalent of a large region of good quality production such as New England in NSW (plus Traprock for the Queenslanders). Supply is an important driver of relative prices (premiums and discounts) in the greasy wool market, so the New Zealand supply is important for these categories.

Sales resume on 30 January with 36,535 bales currently rostered for sale.
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Data sources: AWEX, Mecardo

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