A slightly softer tone was evident in the Australian wool market last week.
But selected superfine types were very strong at auction, as were certified sustainable, non-mulesed or ceased mulesed lots.
Faulty Merino wools and crossbred wools generally struggled compared to the rest.
Overall, the market closed five cents a kilogram lower, although Fremantle sales showed a more noticeable negative trend at the end of the week.
In US Dollar terms, wool prices were down 4c/kg and, for a change, the European buyers saw less change with only a 2c/kg drop. But this was after some ups and downs during the selling period.
The currency played havoc with export sales across the selling week, with a large drop over the previous weekend, followed by an equally large rise early in the week as global sentiment moved from one extreme to the other.
At the end of the auction selling period, wool prices were overall largely unchanged despite a fall on the first selling day, followed by a recovery on the second day of selling.
Indent buyers operating on behalf of Chinese clients were filling the gaps nicely last week as traditional exporters continued to face cash flow issues.
But their type restrictions do put further pressure on the low-vegetable matter (VM) sector, and increase discounts for the higher-VM lots accordingly.
The wool market was certainly not alone in experiencing dramatic swings during the week.
Global oil prices initially fell to three-week lows, then surged upwards again.
No doubt fuel retailers in Australia were just about to drop their bowser prices back to pre-war prices, when news out of Russia soured expectations of a quick resolution and pushed oil prices up again.
Last week's oil price was still a long way below the US$130 per barrel level which pushed local petrol and diesel prices above $2.20/litre.
With oil prices moving up to 8pc in a single session, where the price will be in 24 hours is very much unknown.
That most often used word in the Russian language 'nyet' came up again when Russia spoke about progress on ceasefire negotiations, and soured the collective mood again later in the week - after initial positive reports.
The Ukraine war continues to affect the wool processing fraternity in Europe, with spiraling energy costs being the main short-term impact.
The longer the situation drags on, the larger the potential inflationary effect, and the more detrimental it will be to consumer confidence.
Just when the industry was in a positive frame of mind, with workers returning to offices and clothing sales looking bright, a spike in inflation and an uncertain regional future outlook may conspire against those discretionary purchases.
Earlier, the Chinese government had issued a very positive statement regarding its intentions to support its economy, ease the restrictions on the tech companies and continue to grow consumer demand.
This was enough to send Asian stock markets soaring, particularly in the tech sector. But it also provided some respite for their beleaguered property development companies.
Chinese wool processing companies have become jittery and uncertain about processing schedules, with COVID lockdowns seemingly just around the corner every day.
The government's continued quest for COVID zero is, at this stage, unchanged - but is being sorely tested by the current variant.
There have been several outbreaks in Shanghai and also Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces, which are key wool processing areas.
Movement of goods and labour between factories has been interrupted, adding further pressure to the congested supply chain.
Most European customers are waiting an extra four to six weeks for their goods compared to pre-COVID times.
This is straining inventory levels, but has not yet caused too many actual machinery stoppages.
Despite the mounting pressures on the supply chain and processing efficiency, demand from a wide selection of markets is still present when "all the ducks are lined up".
Buyers are patiently waiting for a favourable currency opportunity and/or a keen seller to pounce and book some quantity.
Reports of good volumes of business, when the currency was right last week, ranged from Italy, Western Europe, Turkey, Japan and the Chinese domestic market.
All of this has fed back to Australia and South Africa to empty traders accumulated stocks and allow them to refresh and replenish again.
Supply, of "good wool" is plentiful enough, without being excessive.
But even the less popular types had been moving quite well until last week, when pass-in rates for crossbreds climbed a little.
There does seem to be a couple of warning signs starting to appear on the horizon from the cyclical nature of the wool market, with the current "up trend" potentially running its course, and also renewed price resistance for superfine Merino - although only in some markets.
If the inflation genie is allowed to get out of the box in either America or Europe, this could be enough to slow economic growth and therefore trigger a correction.
Medium Merino types are not facing any price resistance and crossbreds are still selling at bargain prices.
So, providing we do not see a worldwide recession, any correction in these categories should only be minor.
The market is treading a virtual tightrope at present, which could see things meander along peacefully, or stumble into what is hopefully a close and handy safety net.
