Gippsland Elders district wool manager Madi Gallagher selling at the National Wool Auction room in Melbourne.

AUSTRALIA’S wool auction market took a step back this week under pressure from a higher offering, but was helped by rises in crossbred fleece prices.

The Australian Wool Exchange said the solid market since early December, with five out of six auctions dearer including consecutive gains in the preceding fortnight, has encouraged sellers onto the market.

Brokers offered 57,196 bales nationally this week, 7872 bales more than last week.

“It was the largest offering in almost three years,” AWEX said.

The offering included more than 5000 bales sourced from Tasmania as part of a designated Tasmanian feature sale.

“The market took a lead from the closing day in the previous series where there was a three-cent dip in the AWEX-EMI,” AWEX said.

“Prices were noticeably cheaper from the outset on Tuesday and sent the Merino Micron Price Guides as much as 92 cents lower.

“Stylish types from Tasmania were one of the few highlights and managed to lift the 16.5 Micron Price Guide (MPG) higher; the only Merino MPG to record a positive result,” AWEX said.

“As with the previous sale, the second day saw the market settle and saw prices for Merino fleece MPG’s ranged between -12 and +25 cents and the EMI falling by only 2 cents.

“Melbourne was again operating in isolation on the final day and the market generally maintained the price levels of the previous day,” AWEX said.

“Stylish types continued to be keenly sought and contributed to a modest 1 cent dip in the AWEX-EMI.”

AWEX said crossbred wools were the best performing sector in this series, with strong widespread competition helping to push prices 5 to 15 cents higher across most microns, although heavy discounting remains evident for poorly prepared lots.

“The crossbred MPGs limited the losses in the AWEX-EMI to only 26 cents.

“Despite the falls of this series, next week’s national offering is also forecast to be high,” AWEX said.

There are currently 57,321 bales expected to be offered. Combined with this week it will make it the largest fortnight of sales in twelve years, AWEX said.