The exchange rate against the Euro rose by 0.63 Euro cents (+1.0%) to close at 62.12 Euro cents on Thursday night. When looked at in other currencies, the AWEX EMI increased by 5¢ (+0.6%) in US terms and decreased by 3¢ (-0.5%) in Euro terms when compared with the previous sale.
The EMI in US terms (807¢) is 112¢ above the 2002/03 peak of 695¢.
The market remained firm in US Currency, but eased in A$ terms. The Sydney sale opened on a downward note, after coming off the better Newcastle selection in the previous week, with the greatest falls at the fine end. In the South, the local Indicator was unchanged on Tuesday.
The progressive easing over the week saw the 17.0 and 17.5 average AWEX Micron Price Guides down by 20¢, down by 5 to 13¢ for 18.0 to 19.5, by around 15¢ for 20.0 to 23.0 and down by 20¢ for 24.0 micron wool. Skirtings were less affected than fleece wools and oddments also eased, with the Merino Carding MPG down by 16¢. Among the crossbreds, the MPGs for came back by around 10¢ for fine crossbreds and by 25¢ for the medium and coarse wools.
There was a wide spread of buyer activity over the week, with buying for Europe again apparent. Buyers for China were active on all days, but with no single buyer among the top five buyers on all three days. There is no further news on the Chinese quotas at the moment.
Sales will be held in Sydney and Melbourne next week, when 43,311 bales are currently rostered for sale. Present estimates for the following three sales vary from 56,000 to 58,900 bales, a decrease of 2.0% over the four sale period when compared with last year.
This represents a significant narrowing of the gap between this year's offering and that of last year. To date 17.5% fewer bales have been offered at this year's auctions.
The national wool production forecast was revised downwards from 410 to 395 mkg last week compared with 426 mkg last season.
In South African sales, the Cape Wools Indicator was up by 1.2% since last week against a 1.7% appreciation of the Rand against the US Dollar and a 0.6% appreciation against the Euro.
Australian Wool Innovation Limited
marketing@alchempro.com
