The Australian wool market finished 2.4% lower, on average, at sales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle this week.
The AWEX EMI fell by 25¢ (-2.7%), ending the week at 910¢/kg. This reflected decreases of 27¢ (-2.8%) in the North and 23¢ (-2.5%) in the South, with their corresponding Regional Indicators finishing the week at 932¢ and 892¢ clean, respectively. The Western Indicator fell by 19¢ (-2.0%), finishing the week at 921¢.
In a two day sale in Sydney and Melbourne, the AWEX EMI fell by 21¢ on Tuesday and by 4¢ on Wednesday. The Western Indicator fell by 22¢ on Tuesday and rose by 3¢ on Wednesday in a two day sale in Fremantle. Sales were confined to Tuesday and Wednesday to avoid a clash with Wool Week and the Annual General Meetings of post farm industry Associations in Melbourne.
47,257 bales were on offer, compared with 42,840 bales last week, of which 17.1% were passed in, comprised of 15.0% in Sydney, 15.0% in Melbourne and 24.8% in Fremantle. Pass-in rates for Merino fleece and skirtings were 20.1% and 12.5%, respectively. 1,976 bales (4.0%) were withdrawn prior to sale and re-offered bales made up 15.5% of this week's offering.
In a further week of volatility on global financial and share markets, the US exchange rate (source RBA) was 1.75¢ higher on Monday when compared with Thursday of last week. It was down by 0.93¢ on Tuesday and by 1.55¢ on Wednesday to close at 80.77¢, down 0.73¢ (-0.9%) since the last sale.
The exchange rate against the Euro fell by 0.69 Euro cents (-1.1%) to close at 59.46 Euro cents on Wednesday night. When looked at in other currencies, the AWEX EMI dropped by 27¢ (-3.5%) in US terms and by 21¢ (-3.7%) in Euro terms when compared with the previous sale.