The market carried on from its strong finish last week, with price rises across most Merino micron categories. The better spinners types attracted very good prices in Newcastle, with a top price of 64,000¢ greasy paid for one lot. The under 15 micron wools came under some pressure yesterday when a relatively large volume was on offer. Medium micron wools were the best performers in the South and the West.
Average AWEX Micron Price Guides (MPGs) eased by 10¢ for 16.5 microns and by 5¢ for 17.0 micron, but were up by around 9¢ for 17.5 to 19.5 microns, by 12¢ for 20.0, by 16¢ for 21.0, by 17¢ for 22.0, by 25¢ for 23.0 and by 10¢ for 24.0 microns. Skirtings were again in very strong demand after a slight easing last week. Oddments were generally unchanged, while crossbred average MPGs increased by around 6¢.
There was another good spread of buyer activity this week, with the traditional support from buyers for Italy in Newcastle. Buyers for China were dominant in Melbourne and Fremantle.
Sales will be held in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle next week, when 61,489 bales are currently rostered for sale. Present estimates for the following three sales vary from 54,200 to 55,700 bales, a decrease of 14.3% over the four sale period when compared with last year.
In South African sales, the Cape Wools Indicator was down by 0.6% since last week against a 1.3% appreciation of the Rand against the US Dollar and a 0.1% depreciation against the Euro.
Australian Wool Innovation Limited
marketing@alchempro.com
