ONLINE wool bale sales increased on AuctionsPlus last week as prices lifted at physical auctions.

Bales sales on the AuctionsPlus offer board increased by 116 bales to 434 bales with increased demand for finer clips.

The top-priced lot was a superfine 15.6 micron Merino AAAFMSUP fleece line that made 1750c/kg greasy, or 2468c/kg clean. The lot has an average staple length of 92mm and 0.1 percent vegetable matter content. It was offered by Elders in Victoria under the brand ‘St Quentin/Lismore’.

Buyers also bought 77 17 micron bales and 99 bales 18 micron bales online. The 17 micron wool sold to a top of 1500c/kg greasy, or 2019c/kg clean, and the 18 micron wool made to 1260c/kg greasy, or 1,662c/kg clean.

The national physical auction wool offering lifted by 2349 bales to 48,971 compared to 46,622 the week prior. On the physical auction market, the AWEX Eastern Market Indicator rose by 9 cents on Tuesday and a further 6 cents on Wednesday to close at A1300c/kg clean, with 9.6pc of the offering passed in.

AuctionsPlus said global trade complications and consumer access are pushing retail wool garment prices upward, a potential aid to the past week and predicted future weeks of the wool trade. More than 50,000 bales are scheduled for sale at auctions this week.

Source: AuctionsPlus.