Wool spread by hand

After 3 consecutive weeks of price increases the wool market retraced this week, with all types and all centres impacted.

After lifting by 30¢ last week, the Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) gave 23¢ this week to finish at 1,319¢. A similar result was posted in US dollar terms with the Aussie dollar slightly weaker to US$0.77, pulling back the EMI 26 US¢, to finish at 1019¢.

At Fremantle sales, the Western Market Indicator (WMI) posted a similar result, the WMI retracing 20¢ for the week to settle at 1,355¢.

The trend was set from the outset of selling on Tuesday, with the softer tone maintained across the selling week.

The Crossbred was impacted to a greater extent with AWEX reporting 16 to 30 cents falls, with the 30 MPG falling 25 cents or 9%.

Cardings followed suit finishing lower in all centres with the Cardings indicator down 7¢ in Fremantle, 21¢ in Sydney & 6¢ Melbourne.

A similar offering to last week of 47,558 bales came forward this week after 5.3% of the original offering was withdrawn, however, there was a big lift in the pass-in rate to 15.3%. This resulted in 40,303 bales clearing to the trade, 3,000 bales fewer than last week, with the average weekly bales sold for the season to date now 33,602.  

This week on Mecardo, Andrew Woods took a look at the average curves and discounts for wool compared to the longer term. The longer-term five-year averages for low staple strength discounts are appreciably higher than in the current market. It is a similar story for the discounts for 50 and 60 mm. Merino pieces, with a vegetable fault of 4%, tend to be discounted at similar levels to 55 mm fleece, a feature evident in the five-year averages and current market.

The week ahead….

Next week there is a larger offering listed, with 55,746 are bales listed for sale across the three principal selling centres. Melbourne, will sell across three days, while Sydney and Fremantle will sell on Tuesday & Wednesday. This larger offering will test the market based on the softer result this week.

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Data sources: AWEX, AWI, Mecardo

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