AUSTRALIA’S wool market continued to strengthen this week, with the benchmark indicator rising 30 cents over two days of auction selling this week, to hit its highest level in seven years.

The AWEX Eastern Market Indicator lifted another 15c to finish the week at 1979c/kg, its highest level since October 2018.

The EMI is now just 22c away from the milestone 2000c barrier and 138c from its all-time high of 2116c.

More detail on the milestones on Monday.

Fremantle returned to the roster, pushing the national total up to 25,662 bales, although this was the smallest three-centre offering since 2020.

On the opening day, the market opened strongly and by the end of the day the movements in the Merino fleece Micron Price Guides (MPGs) ranged from unchanged and +65c/kg.

The largest gains were in the Western region, as Fremantle did not enjoy the price rises seen during the previous week’s auctions.

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The news in US dollar terms was not as favourable, due to currency movements the EMI fell by US22cs, closing the day at 1385c.

On the second day just the Eastern centres were selling and this time the MPG movements ranged from -25c to +37c. Strength in the crossbred sector helping the EMI to add another 6c.

The EMI closed the day and the week at 1979c, its highest point since October 2018.

This week’s passed-in rate was again low, just 3.3pc failed to reach seller reserve, showing seller willingness to accept the prices on offer.

With clearance rates consistently high, the amount of wool on hold continues to diminish. This is a contributing factor to the smaller sales being seen, as there is not a lot of wool on hold coming onto the market.

Next week Fremantle is having a non-sale week and with just Sydney and Melbourne in operation. The national quantity is expected to be just 21,720 bales.

This will be the smallest sale since Week 51 of the previous season.

Sources – AWEX, AWI.