Australian wool auctions produced price improvements across all types and descriptions this week.  Merino types finer than 19micron gained 30 to 60ac and 15 to 25ac gains were made on 19.5mic and broader Merino. Crossbred wool types finally enjoyed a bit of a rise and 15ac additions to their values were made by week’s end. Cardings traded fully firm to 10ac dearer.  

A combination of steady demand from China and a reinvigoration of Indian and European buying provided the impetus. This is the third consecutive week the market has headed in a positive direction. Additional assistance arose from the stable forex rates in the major trading currencies against the AUD and upcoming auction volumes in decline. 

The Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) gained 23ac or 1.7% for the week to  1343ac clean/kg. The USD EMI was similarly 1.7% or 17usc higher to 1040usc clean/kg. The Western Market Indicator (WMI) pushed 25ac higher to 1385ac clean/kg. 

A more widespread area of interest from buyers was apparent this week. Higher vegetable matter (VM) sale lots in the Merino sector were readily absorbed into buyer orders, particularly for those lots finer than 20micron. Discounts for usually inferior-priced lots such as low strength (nkt), low yield or higher position of break in middle (pobM) were vastly reduced as buyers scrambled for “anything cheaper”. 

The price gaps for Merino wool finer than 20 micron are substantial this week, with the 18 to 20 micron differential sitting at around 32ac per point of a micron or over 320ac for a full micron. Finer than 18micron is even greater at around 400ac for a whole micron difference. Broad and strong wool Merino (>20mic) sits at 5 to 10ac per point. The 25 to 29 micron crossbred types are around 10ac per point and broader are plus 5 to 8ac.

The strength of top maker-buying improved again this week as they took on the local Australian traders to garner more inventory. Both Chinese and European manufacturers exerted more influence upon both the Merino and crossbred sectors while the local Australian processors appeared at the top of carding buyers lists alongside traders.

38,674 bales will be auctioned next week. Fremantle will not offer.