Recent sales of 22 micron wool on the offer-board Wooltrade indicate good ongoing demand for broad Merino fleece, according to AuctionsPlus market operations manager Tony Benson.

More than 1000 bales of wool were sold on Wooltrade last week as the physical wool market recorded some handsome price increases, Mr Benson said.

Quality 18 micron Merino fleece sold for up to 1237 cents a kilogram clean on Wooltrade, 19 micron fleece made up to 1225 c/kg and 20 micron lines made up to 1178c/kg, or 40 cents above the AWEX indicators for 19-20 micron wools.

“For 20 and 21 micron Merino fleece, sales were up to 1160c/kg clean for well specified wool and 22 micron wools also sold for a strong 1165 cents.

22 micron Merino wool selling well

“With the indicator at about 1135 cents for 22 micron fleece there is a good chance that the market will continue on as supply for those types is not plentiful throughout Australia and demand seems to be constant,” Mr Benson said.

“Good style Merino skirtings between 17-19 microns were popular earlier in the week and sold for up to 1118c/kg clean, while crossbreds were well-supported with our top price for a 26.7 micron, 100mm fleece lot being 540c/kg greasy.

“Stain crutchings were in demand with 820c/kg clean buying 17.5 micron lots.”

Mr Benson said market spikes like this one are difficult to catch and it is nearly impossible to hit the top price of the cycle.

AuctionsPlus Wool clears 96pc

The online auction, AuctionsPlus Wool, on Tuesday this week had a clearance rate of 96 percent and gave a good indication of the bouncing market ahead, Mr Benson said.

“Our top price for the week was for a 17.4 micron best style Merino fleece lot offered by Jemalong Wool, Cooma.

“This lot sold for 1302c/kg clean and was branded KF/BROOKWOOD,” he said.

The lot’s specifications were robust, with just 0.3 percent vegetable matter, 76.8 percent yield, a staple length of 77mm and 37 Newtons/kilotex of tensile strength.

“This is some 60 cents better than the indicator and had outclassed some finer wool in terms of price.”

Mr Benson said wool growers should consider staggering reserves upwards to sell into the market spike utilising Wooltrade or AuctionsPlus.

Source: AuctionsPlus, Wooltrade