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.
Have any questions or comments?
Click on graph to expand
Click on graph to expand
Click on graph to expand
Data sources: AWEX, AWI, Mecardo
Categories
Have any questions or comments?
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