Overseas mills would only be buying hand to mouth to ensure that should COVID-19 continue to negatively impact economies the mills won’t be caught in a exposed position.
The wool market appears to be holding somewhat firm on the shaky grounds COVID-19 has caused.
Last week just under 25,000 bales were offered, this amount is easing pressure on the market, as mills continue to buy at a slower rate.
This market was reflected by a drop of 12c and 8c on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively to see the AWEX eastern market indicator close off at 1272c, while the West Australian indicator lost 9c and 3c to close off at 1358c.
There appears to be a reasonable level of grower acceptance at the levels with a 15.1% pass in rate across the two days.
The general sentiment around the industry is cautiousness, the reduced offering is keep the market’s head above water.
Overseas mills would only be buying hand to mouth to ensure that should COVID-19 continue to negatively impact economies the mills won’t be caught in a exposed position.
The market holding its position did see wool buyers and exporters head online to AuctionsPlus with 575 bales selling throughout last week.
Online 17µ and 18µ micron fleece wool sold up to 1285c and 1110c greasy or 1732c and 1512c dry, as 19µ and 20µ micron fleece wool sold up to 1095c and 910c greasy or 1502c and 1387c dry.
The top priced lot online was a line of was a line of 16.3µ AAA Merino fleece wool which was branded SLUMBERDOWNS, offered by Elders Adelaide and sold for 1300c greasy or 1890c dry.
Also last week saw the second week of online wool auctions on AuctionsPlus. In the live online sales 742 bales over 114 lots were offered by companies Jemalong Wool, Australian Wool Network, RuralCo Wool and Nutrien Ag Solutions. Nutrien listed wool from QLD, NSW, SA and WA.
The sale saw a clearance of 52% at the fall of hammer. In addition to the 10 buying companies who competed last week, a further 8 new companies participated. The introduction of Fremantle stored wool encouraged new buyers.
A further 63 buyers, brokers and growers viewed the sale on AuctionsPlus. The top priced lot today was a line of 15.8µ micron merino weaners fleece wool, which sold for 1218c greasy.
This lot was branded NANGANDIE/CCY, offered by Nutrien Wool, out of Northern NSW.
Looking forward, the cautiousness of overseas mills will continue, COVID-19 left a path of destruction crippling economies, this does not bode well for short to medium term industry, however the light at the end of the tunnel is simple, once a vaccine is produce, the world will recover, and so will global economies and consumer confidence.
-AuctionsPlus