Crossbred wool prices sank to record lows this week. Image – Arcadian Wool Brokers.

PRICES for fine and medium Merino wool lifted in Australian auctions this week, but crossbred fleece values fell to record lows.

AWEX senior market analyst Lionel Plunkett said the Australian wool market settled this week, after four weeks of successive losses, with most Merino types recording price increases.

The AWEX Eastern Market Indicator rose 9 cents to 1179c/kg clean, or US764c/kg in US$ terms, up US11 cents. The passed-in rate was 8.8  percent.

Mr Plunkett said crossbred wool did not attract the same interest as Merino types and recorded further losses. The Micron Price Guides for 26-30 micron fleece dropped by 20-26 cents.

“Although the MPG for 32 micron only fell by 1 cent, this fall pushed it down to a new record low of 270 cents,” he said.

The national offering reduced to 23,371 bales, down 1967 bales compared to last week.

“When compared year-on-year, the national offering has fallen by 165,300 bales.

“This equates to a fall of 10.9 percent,” Mr Plunkett said.

He said sales opened on Tuesday in Melbourne and Sydney.

“From the opening lot, it was immediately apparent that buyer sentiment had improved. “This resulted in price increases across all Merino fleece types.”

He said the individual Merino MPGs rose by 14-47 cents, pushing the AWEX EMI up by 11 cents.

“The rise in the EMI would have been higher if not for the negative movements in the crossbred MPGs.”

On Wednesday, there were auctions in Melbourne and Fremantle only.

“The Melbourne market could not continue its upward path and the individual MPGs generally fell by 2 to 24 cents, with only the 18 and 18.5 micron MPGs recording further increases.

“The Fremantle region, which did not enjoy the gains of the previous day, opened strongly, pushing prices higher,” Mr Plunkett said.

“Main buyer interest was in the finer microns, resulting in price increases in the 19.5 micron and finer MPGs of between 16 and 41 cents.

“A limited number of broader wools lost ground.”

The EMI fell by 2 cents on the second day of selling, with only the Melbourne movements factored in.

Source: AWEX.