STABILITY may be returning to the wool market after a fortnight of much more subdued price trends.
At the close of trading last week the Eastern Market Indicator was on 1812 cents a kilogram and at early sales this week the overall market was firm to slighter dearer.
Australian Wool Exchange market information manager Lionel Plunkett said there was more wool on offer last week than the previous sale, with 42,519 bales up for grabs to the trade nationally.
“Despite the slight increase in quantity, competition remained very high,” he said.
He said it was worth noting that even though in Australian dollars the EMI slipped 6c/kg last week, due to currency movements, when viewed in US dollar terms, the EMI recorded a 14c/kg rise to close at US1437c/kg.
“Noticeable, was the fact that wools carrying slight faults, started to receive smaller discounts as buyers focused more and more on length and strength results.
“The main interest was again focused on wools with very low mid breaks and wools possessing CVH (coefficient of variation of Hauteur) values below 45.”
Mr Plunkett said these lots were becoming increasingly difficult to quote, as some buyers had adopted a “buy at best” attitude in the sale room.
The opposite was true of wools with high mid breaks.
He said these wools were heavily discounted, and the increased quantities of these types was a large factor in the micron price guides recording falls.
