The wool market experienced a sharp decline this week with all micron price indicators down across all selling centres.
This was despite a small offering of just over 25,000 bales across the three selling centres. It is reported the lack of confident buyers is largely attributed to the ongoing trade issues at present.
Reports from physical auction suggested buying at the start of auction on the first day at the at all centres was slow from the beginning to end as much of the large quantity buyers remained absent regardless of the reported supply pressures.
The western selling centre was open after a week off and saw a large amount of withdrawals before the sale as sellers refused to accept prices.
The market continued to lose ground on the second day despite large quantities of the lower quality wool still being discounted.
It is also reported the Southern selling centre lacked support even for the better style wools as Merino price indicators lost value and the poorer styles copped much heavier discounts.
This is backed by the AWEX Eastern Market Indicator as it fell 67c on Wednesday and then a further 55c on Thursday to reach 1375c with a pass in rate of 33.4%.
The largest falls coming for 20µ to 21µ micron wools as large amounts of the finer wool types are being discounted, leading to the Merino wool indicators having mixed results across the three selling centres but largely ending the week down more than 160c.
The sentiment at physical auction was reflected online as there were minimal sales on AuctionsPlus wool last week, just 17 bales sold.
A line of 18µ micron fleece wool sold for 1051c greasy 1489c dry. A line of 20µ micron pieces sold for 209c greasy 701c dry.
This week the volume of supply increases based on previous weeks with nearly 29,000 bales on offer.
With supply pressures, the tough season continuing and reports of the larger quantity buyers remaining largely absent from buying, it is expected the market will continue along the same path as last week. It is expected the market will continue along the same path as last week.
-Ed Murphy, AuctionsPlus