On balance, it was a better week for the
East Coast wool market as the Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) improved 4ȼ to 1131ȼ/kg. With the exchange rate still hovering in the 0.64ȼ
range the EMI expressed in US$ improved 7ȼ to 732 ȼ/kg.
The start was strong for the Sydney
Superfine sale with low pass-in rates (4.8%) and improvements across finer
categories on Tuesday. This momentum
didn’t carry into Wednesday and final results were mixed. 18MPG rose 18ȼ to 1533 ȼ/kg and 19MPG
increased 19 ȼ to 1405 ȼ/kg.
Southern markets got up off the canvas this
week, as all categories (with the exception of 17MPG ) improved on the back of
a strong opening day to sales.
Preference for low CVH and low VM lots pushed pricing upward on Tuesday
but eased on Wednesday. 16.5 MPG finished 21ȼ higher to 1953 ȼ/kg and 21MPG
increased 18 ȼ to 1277ȼ/kg.
Fremantle market returned this week and had
to “face the music” after missing last week’s performance. All categories saw double-digit declines with
the 18MPG falling 49ȼ to 1500ȼ/kg and 21MPG losing 67ȼ to 1274ȼ/kg. This
dragged the Western Market Indicator (WMI) down 3.8% to 1270 ȼ/kg (-50 ȼ). This is 1ȼ below where the WMI finished the
2022/23 season so the start of season sugar-hit has now been erased.
Crossbreds crept upward again in Melbourne,
with 28MPG up 5ȼ to 345 ȼ/kg. Cardings in
Sydney lost 8 ȼ to 722 ȼ/kg and improved 3 ȼ to 698 ȼ/kg in Melbourne. Fremantle
cardings had a steeper decline, losing 26ȼ to 717ȼ/kg.
With the return of the Fremantle sales, the
national offering increased 15% week on week, to reach 44,690 bales. Despite the Western market pricing trending
lower to fall in line with the losses of the East seen last week, the overall
pass-in rate finished lower this week, to sit at 11.1%. 44% of the offering had
<1.0% vegetable matter (vm) which was a 6% improvement on the previous
week’s offering. 39,716 bales sold this
week, which is 2% above the weekly average figure of bales sold for the 2023/24
season thus far.
This week
on Mecardo, Andrew Woods provides analysis on Merino Price Curves (read here). Based on the performance of some micron categories in relation to 10-year
median levels, the market is not yet flagging itself as being at a low point.
Strong Tuesday for the East
Next week
Sales are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in all three centres with an expected 45.5K bales to be offered.
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Click on graph to expand
Click on graph to expand
Click on graph to expand
Data sources: AWEX, AWI, Mecardo
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