A rather mundane week at this week’s Australian wool auctions with very little price movements registered. Chinese top makers and local export traders were all active but appeared to be acting under stringent price sensitivity. Grower sellers were more readily accepting of the stability of prices on offer and a subsequent clearance rate of 88.6% resulted, which is up from the 77.3% of last week’s offering.  

The Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) gained 2ac to close at 1339ac/clean kg. A reversal of the weakening AUD forex trend occurred week to week and saw the AUD recover by over 1% against the USD. This took the USD EMI 1.2% or 12usc higher to 975usc clean/kg . The Western Market Indicator (WMI) outperformed the East and gained 10ac to close at 1370ac clean/kg with just 12.5% being passed in. 

The usually reliable pre-sale chatter arising from show floors appears to have lost its radar in the past two weeks, with the majority of buyers thoughts expecting the market to go to in their favour during the week. At times the market did exhibit signs of pushing lower, but the underlying strength of competition soon arrested any further falls as other buyers soon stepped in to solidify the areas of weakness.   

Merino fleece types finer than 18.5 micron were the most well sought this week and improved 30 to 40ac for the sale. The spinners and best top makers suited to the European processors just held values but are still trading at around 7 to 10% premium to the equivalent micron price guides. All other wool types and descriptions sold at prices +/- 5 on established quotes. Western Australia was an exception as that market kicked up 10 to 20ac on the final day after selling at rates close to the Eastern markets initially.

The major Chinese top maker topped Merino fleece buyers lists with good support from our local trader exporters. European and Indian interest was also visible. Italy continues to dominate the better wools.

Next week has 42,000 bales on offer on Tuesday and Wednesday.