THE wool market dipped nine cents a kilogram last week on the back of hitting a 12-month high the week prior.
The Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) finished last week at 1092c/kg.
More than 52,000 bales flushed the market last week, but crossbred types were still meeting continued interest week in, week out.
The current forecast of 59,144 bales this week was the largest sale in four years.
Elders Wagga Wagga wool manager Tim McMeekin said a lift in the EMI was the trigger point for growers to start locking in bales.
He said 95 per cent of his clients met the market but volumes would increase when stored wool was put up for auction.
"The 5pc to 10pc that don't put it on the market, has come out of the woodwork because of the little rise we had a fortnight ago," he said.
Mr McMeekin said crossbred types had "never been better" but the continual low prices for fine wool was worrying.
"If we can hold these levels (crossbred) it'll make that fat lamb industry pretty attractive," he said.
"The biggest single profit force in the wool industry at the moment is filling bales, rather than style and micron."
Crossbred prices remained steady across all auction rooms last week.
In Sydney, 25-micron lines closed at 961c/kg with the 26-micron and 30-micron indicators rising 5c/kg and 10c/kg to hover about 875c/kg and 775c/kg respectively.
All fine and medium wool fell in Sydney, with the biggest drops in the finer types.
The volatility of the 16.5-micron to 19.5-micron market was noticeable with dips of 14c/kg to 50c/kg.
Looking ahead, Mr McMeekin said Chinese New Year could mean price levels remain lacklustre for the next fortnight.
"The Aussie dollar will obviously help but the dollar needs to really stabilise before the Chinese will step in because they won't buy it today if they think they'll get it cheaper tomorrow," he said.
"When it stabilises we might see some positives."
Chad Wool Pty Ltd managing director Don Chad, Dubbo, said Merino styles were cheap compared with carding types and crossbreds.
Merino cardings lifted and are headed to record highs, according to Australian Wool Exchange.
Mr Chad said the quality and quantity of wool in his area had been affected dramatically by the drought in the north.
"There are isolated pockets where the quality is extremely good but there's a lot of drought-affected wools coming in to the market; very tender and very dusty," he said.
"They're very hard to sell which is only normal because buyers have their specifications they need to meet.
"You can't blame the buyers or the growers, it's just a circumstance that's happened."
Fluctuations of several dollars would be enough to impact on wool growers' viability, he said.
But he said the EMI needed to almost double for producers to stay in the game.
"They're talking not enough money - to be sustainable we need an indicator of 2100c/kg - there's people that will go out of wool at this price," he said.
"Traditionally at this time of the year 30 years ago we'd sell 130,000 bales, but when they hit 50,000 (bales) now it (the market) seems to baulk."