This penultimate sale of the 2023 year brought about some very favourable price results for wool grower sellers. By the close of selling, the Australian wool auctions managed a general 25ac gain across the entire Merino offering but also the finer edge of the crossbred offering. Unfortunately the broadest crossbreds and cardings failed to match the demand interest in the majority of wools for sale.

Some of the strongest competition seen for some time appeared within the super fine Merino fleece sector finer than 18.5micron. Closing quotes had the general run of the mill types at 50 to 70ac dearer, but many specialists in this area had their quotes well over 100ac dearer for the week. Interestingly, almost all of this new found buying intent came from the pressure that a few of the Chinese mills (mainly top makers and vertical) had been exerting on the market for the past two months which saw China take a large proportion of clips into their inventory that have traditionally been the exclusive domain of European buyers for decades.

Many exporters commented that this week‘s beginning of market gains at the finer end of the Australian clip came as little surprise. The majority of operators in this area had been acutely aware of the good value of these wools trading under the 2000ac/kg clean mark but financial constraints and the largely negative demand signals from European users prevented most from taking advantage.

Auction buying this week mirrored that of last week. The AUD shifted to the overseas users (except for the Euro) this week as the value depreciated 1.8% against the US dollar and 1.3% against the yuan. This certainly was the strength behind the consistent 25ac gains on the 18.5 to 25 micron type segments. The WA centre at Fremantle was most indicative of this as their AUD prices were almost spot on the CNY equivalent bid prices emanating from China. The closing levels across all three selling centres largely matched through the selection and illustrated the stronger trade demand, but also the price sensitivity that still remains in play.

Over 50,000 bales is currently rostered to sell next week on Tuesday to Thursday as Melbourne sells over three days again to close out the year.