THE wool market remains flat after a mere one cent a kilogram rise last week.
The Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) closed at 1023c/kg despite a dramatic fall of US2.2c in the Australian dollar.
Elders Wagga Wagga wool manager Tim McMeekin, said while the EMI wasn't at disastrous levels, it was a long way from where it needed to be.
"The market is fairly stagnant with wools with high Newtons per kilotex (Nkt) and low mid-breaks receiving a slight premium over lower style, low-Nkt wools," Mr McMeekin said.
Superfine prices jumped slightly in the Sydney auction rooms last week with 16.5 micron finishing 3c/kg dearer to close at 1296c/kg.
The 17-micron range spiked 6c/kg to close at 1246c/kg.
In Melbourne, the 16.5-micron indicator dropped 6c/kg to finish at 1282c/kg.
Mr McMeekin said kilograms were driving the profit.
"The market trends are telling us that wool cut is the main profit driver, rather than micron or style," he said.
At the Fremantle sales 18 micron performed well lifting 16c/kg while 18.5 micron rose 14c/kg.
Crossbred prices again fared well across the board, with the 28-micron and 30-micron indicators rising 17c/kg and 13c/kg respectively in the Sydney auction rooms.
The same microns jumped 11c/kg and 12c/kg respectively at the Melbourne sales.
"Crossbred prices are good and rallied last week on the back of a lower dollar and are in pretty good territory," Mr McMeekin said.
Australian Wool Exchange senior market analyst Lionel Plunkett said the market had split into a two tier arrangement.
"Those better types have been well supported, but it's coming at the expense of those lower spec types," he said.
Mr Plunkett said the EMI was tracking sideways.
"If you dig a little deeper, there is a differential starting to appear between the fine wools and the broad wools," he said.
"At the fine end, you're seeing differentials there between those better spec ones and the lower ones of 150c/kg or more which is a good sign because it's showing that the demand is there."
A consistent trend had been the good money for crossbred wool.
"Crossbreds are going very well when compared to the Merino fleece market, which is another good sign because the volumes for those crossbreds are still reasonably high, whereas, volumes for the Merinos are still trending lower," Mr Plunkett said.
He said volumes would crank up in October and early November.
Supply was down 3.4pc on this time last year, but was up 6887 bales compared with the week before, when 43,699 bales were offered.
Wooltrade market operations manager Tony Benson said the crossbred wool market was firm.
"A good crossbred fleece is making up to 699c/kg for a 27-micron line and crossbreds benefit most from a falling Aussie dollar," Mr Benson said.
"I'd like to see more upside in the EMI but that relies on the fine end of the market coming up."