Drop in wool supply brings stability to market

Wool-balesThe AWEX Eastern Market Indicator made up a portion of the ground lost last week, finishing Wednesdays auctions at 1,170c, up 15 cents.

In USD terms, this equates to 770c. Buyer competition for the relatively small national offering of 18,828 bales helped drive the price upwards.

Passed in rates also decreased by 4.7% to finish at 7.9%. Next weeks offering is expected to drop again, with only 17,136 bales on offer so far. The ongoing drop in supply will likely bring a bit of stability to the EMI in the short term. 16.5 to 19.5 µ micron wool all rose by over 20c in the North, with 19.5 µ micron fleece rising by 29c.

Thursday saw week 48 of the online wool auctions held on AuctionsPlus. Nutrien Ag solutions (Southern) offered 83 bales over 18 lots. Clearance improved dramatically this week, with a 100% clearance being found. The usual buyers competed throughout the auction, creating healthy competition for the sale.

The top priced lot online this week was a line of 17.4 micron AAAA Merino fleece with a very low 0.1% VM, branded CLEBYARRA and sold for 1105c greasy.

This vendor sold 12 other lots in the auction. Over the last 7 days, 348 bales were sold on the AuctionsPlus wool offer board. This is up 301 bales on the previous week. The increased online interaction falls in line with stronger clearances at the live auctions, and may also be a result of lower supply.

15µ micron merino fleece sold from 1220c to 1465c greasy or 2044c to 2170c dry, while 18µ micron merino fleece sold to a top of 1045c greasy or 1422c dry. 19µ micron merino fleece sold to a top of 955c greasy or 1285 dry.

The top price sold online was a line of 15.3µ micron merino fleece wool, which was offered by Elders Melbourne, branded LANGOWAN and sold for 1465c greasy or 2170c dry. Next weeks live auctions will once again be smaller, and we will see if a lack of supply can outweigh a bleak global economic outlook in order to keep prices steady.

-AuctionsPlus