 Merino Fleece opened the week with mixed results as the trade felt their way early in the sale series. Selected well specified and classed lots attracted good competition with the prices slightly better than last week.
Wednesday saw all the early catalogues open 20-30c dearer with the end result tapering off to 10-25c dearer for the day. The premiums were more noticeable in the best style, FNF and well specified lots were at times the premiums measured 80-100c over the market when all the boxes were ticked. Merino Skirtings held their composure on opening and ran parallel to the fleece throughout the week. VM and good skirting preparation had a heavy influence on the prices as the week progressed. The 17µ best fleece like skirtings continued to outperform the rest of the market. EMI closed on 1091c up 4c at auction sales in Australia last week. The week offering of 30,473 bales, was affected by Fremantle brokers unable to muster enough bales for two sale days. The clearance rate of 91.8% was in line with the markets stronger performance with the weeks gross total reaching $35.24m ($1259/bale average). The reduced weekly offering coupled with a favourable currency exchange (-1.4% for the week) were the key catalyst in halting the downward trend experienced since auction sales resumed three weeks ago. The market opened relatively flat on Tuesday with the better style lots advancing meagre price increments. Wednesday saw a distinct increase in the price levels, with most MPG’s closing up between 10-25c. Whilst the negative sentiment may have temporarily moderated at auction sales this week, consumer confidence remains poor and world economic fundamentals (high inflation and low GDP) have not been able to reverse their position. Competition came from the Large Chinese Top makers, Large Australian Trading Houses and Chinese Indent operators with the Top 5 buyers purchased 53% of the offering. |
| Crossbreds were barely maintained on Tuesday and like the Merino’s, performed slightly better on Wednesday in the northern region with most MPG’s unchanged except for the 28 MPG reported as +5c. Melbourne 30-32µ MPG’s fell up to 10c for the week.
Merino Cardings opened the week with little change measured by the end of selling on Tuesday. Wednesday however we saw some much-needed recovery of 9c for the MC driven by a small upward correction in a depressed Merino locks market. Stains followed suit whilst crutchings remained firm. Market Commentary This weeks estimated offering increases slightly to 32,354 bales. Once again poor receipts in Western Australia have limited the Fremantle offering to just 1 day offering of 4079 bales. The AWTA released their August sampling figures this week. The monthly comparisons of Total Bales tested for August 2024 compared with the same period last season are down 20.1% (possibly influenced by the alteration in the sale recess) whilst the YTD totals are down 9.2% in line with the National Wool production forecasting figures release last month. ~Marty Moses |