In the first sale after the mid-year break, the Australian wool market finished 5.8% lower, on average, at sales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle this week. This was also the first sale since the suspension of processing of new applications for import quotas in China.
The AWEX EMI fell by 55¢ (-5.9%), ending the week at 874¢/kg clean. This reflected decreases of 62¢ (6.5%) in the North and 48¢ (-5.3%) in the South, with their corresponding Regional Indicators finishing the week at 894¢ and 858¢ clean respectively. The Western Indicator fell by 52¢ (-5.6%), finishing the week at 874¢.
In a three day sale in Sydney and a two day sale in Melbourne, the AWEX EMI fell by 33¢ on Tuesday, by 28¢ on Wednesday and rose by 6¢ on Thursday. The Western Indicator fell by 59¢ on Wednesday and increased by 7¢ on Thursday.
The quirk in the EMI calculation when only the North or the South sells was seen again on Tuesday when the 33¢ change in the EMI did not reflect the change in the market. The 71¢ (-7.4%) change in the Northern Indicator is a better descriptor of the change on that day.
52,949 bales were on offer, compared with 71,979 in the last sale, of which 23.3% were passed in, comprised of 25.1% in Sydney and 16.9% in Melbourne and 30.5% in Fremantle. Pass-in rates for Merino fleece and skirtings were 24.1% and 22.2% respectively. 7,807 bales (12.8%) were withdrawn prior to sale and re-offered wools made up 7.5% of this week's offering.
The US exchange rate (RBA) was 0.88¢ lower on Monday when compared with Thursday of the last sale. It was up by 0.79¢ on Tuesday, down by 1.18¢ on Wednesday and up by 0.91¢ on Thursday, to close at 85.45¢, down 0.36¢ (-0.4%) since the last sale.
marketing@alchempro.com
