The Australian wool market finished 0.9% higher, on average, at sales in Newcastle, Melbourne and Fremantle this week.
The AWEX EMI rose by 6¢ (+0.6%), ending the week at 959¢/kg. This reflected increases of 5¢ (+0.5%) in the North and 8¢ (+0.9%) in the South, with their corresponding Regional Indicators finishing the week at 996¢ and 928¢ clean, respectively. The Western Indicator rose by 13¢ (+1.4%), finishing the week at 970¢.
In a three day sale in Newcastle and a two day sale in Melbourne, the AWEX EMI was unchanged on Tuesday, rose by 2¢ on Wednesday and by 4¢ on Thursday. The Western Indicator rose by 8¢ on Wednesday and by 5¢ on Thursday in a two day sale in Fremantle.
52,753 bales were on offer, compared with 60,012 bales last week, of which 10.3% were passed in, comprised of 7.4% in Newcastle, 10.3% in Melbourne and 14.8% in Fremantle. Pass-in rates for Merino fleece and skirtings were 10.6% and 6.6%, respectively. 1,697 bales (3.1%) were withdrawn prior to sale and re-offered bales made up 8.5% of this week's offering.
The season progressive total of 795,659 bales is 14.4% less than in the same period last year.
In a week of wide fluctuation, the US exchange rate (source RBA) was 1.01¢ lower on Monday when compared with Thursday of last week. It was up by 0.20¢ on Tuesday, by 1.52¢ on Wednesday and down by 1.32¢ on Thursday to close at 92.44¢, down 0.61¢ (-0.7%) since the last sale.
The exchange rate against the Euro fell by 1.18 Euro cents (-1.8%) to close at 63.17 Euro cents on Thursday night. When looked at in other currencies, the AWEX EMI decreased by 1¢ (-0.1%) in US terms and by 7¢ (-1.1%) in Euro terms when compared with the previous sale.
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