The Australian wool market finished 2.1% lower, on average, at sales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle this week against a further increase in the US exchange rate.

The AWEX EMI fell by 18￠ (-1.8%), ending the week at 974￠/kg. This reflected decreases of 15￠ (-1.5%) in the North and 20￠ (-2.1%) in the South, with their corresponding Regional Indicators finishing the week at 1016￠ and 939￠ clean, respectively. The Western Indicator fell by 26￠ (-2.6%), finishing the week at 972￠.

In a three day sale in Melbourne and a two day sale in Sydney, the AWEX EMI fell by 11￠ on Tuesday, by 5￠ on Wednesday and by 2￠ on Thursday. The Western Indicator fell by 28￠ on Wednesday and rose by 2￠ on Thursday in a two day sale in Fremantle.

58,634 bales were on offer, compared with 48,362 bales last week, of which 18.3% were passed in, comprised of 16.0% in Sydney, 16.4% in Melbourne and 24.6% in Fremantle. Pass-in rates for Merino fleece and skirtings were 20.7% and 15.0%, respectively. 4,138 bales (6.6%) were withdrawn prior to sale and re-offered bales made up 14.5% of this week's offering.

The New Zealand Merino Company also offered 3,853 bales in Melbourne on Wednesday of which 17.3% were passed in. 50 bales (1.3%) were withdrawn prior to sale and 23.8% of the bales were re-offers. The market for these wools was quoted by AWEX as fully firm. The total offering of 62,487 bales was well short of the previous Thursday's forecast of 68,557.

The US exchange rate (source RBA) was 1.06￠ higher on Monday when compared with Thursday of last week. It was up by 0.63￠ on Tuesday, down by 0.41￠ on Wednesday and up by 0.29￠ on Thursday to close at 91.83￠, up 1.57￠ (+1.7%) since the last sale.
 
 
 
 
The exchange rate against the Euro rose by 0.45 Euro cents (+0.7%) to close at 62.41 Euro cents on Thursday night. When looked at in other currencies, the AWEX EMI decreased by 1￠ (-0.1%) in US terms and by 7￠ (-1.1%) in Euro terms when compared with the previous sale.

The market was faced with a continuing high exchange rate and a forecast large offering, particularly in Melbourne. Despite easing by 18￠ over the week, the EMI only fell by 1￠ in US currency and 7￠ in Euro terms, reflecting an ongoing firmness in the market.

The market opened on a softer note in Melbourne on Tuesday, with falls across all wool types and micron ranges and the AWEX Southern Market Indicator falling by 20￠. The market then remained reasonably settled at the new level. As is now a regular pattern, there was good competition for the better wools with higher strength values and low mid-breaks.

Closing average AWEX Micron Price Guides (MPGs) were unchanged for 17.0 microns, down by 3￠ for 17.5 microns, by 8￠ for 18.0 microns, by 18￠ for 18.5 microns, by 26￠ for 19.0 microns, and by 36￠ for 19.5 microns. The 20.0 micron wool average MPG was down by 26￠ clean, 21.0 microns by 27￠, 22.0 microns, by 21￠, 23.0 microns by 17￠, and 24.0 microns by 7￠.

Skirtings prices well on opening, after which they were generally unchanged or slightly up. Oddments fell sharply, before recovering some of the early losses. Crossbreds followed a similar pattern, with the medium and coarse wool less affected than the fine crossbreds.

Sales will be held in Newcastle, Melbourne and Fremantle next week, when 54,986 bales are currently rostered for sale. Present estimates for the following three sales vary from 39,100 (Sydney and Melbourne only) to 54,085 bales, a decrease of 13.3% over the four sale period when compared with last year.

There were no sales in South Africa this week.