The Hillcreston-Pine Hill 1PP bale sold for 41,000c/kg. Photo – AWEX.

BIGGA superfine Merino partnership Hillcreston-Pine Hill sold their second finest 1PP bale in Sydney last week, realising 41,000c/kg greasy or $38,540 with a Schneider Group client.

Co-principal Murray Picker said the 11.7 micron 94 kilogram bale was offered through Landmark and passed in at auction by auctioneer Craig Lawson at the Sydney Royal Easter Show sale for 25,000c/kg, then sold after the auction for 41,000c/kg to a Schneider client.

“We valued the bale at recent offers and prices received for this quality and micron of wool and were happy with the final outcome,” Mr Picker said.

AWEX said the 25,000c/kg greasy offered for the bale on Wednesday was the highest bid for wool at an Australian auction since 2015.

To be 1PP accredited wool must be of Australian Superfine breed criteria, fleece style 1 (choice) (ASF1), 16.9 micron and finer, 90/100s count visually, containing 1 percent vegetable matter or less and at least 70mm in staple length, unless wool is significantly finer (e.g. 15 micron), where a slightly shorter length will be accepted.

Mr Picker said the 11.7 micron bale was the third finest bale the partnership had sold in the last 10 years of growing this specialist wool and the second finest 1PP bale any Australian grower had ever sold at auction. The wool a yield of 74.5 percent, average staple length of 69mm, a tensile strength of 46 Newtons/kilotex and it contained 0.1pc vegetable matter content.

The partnership has sold more than 50 1PP bales over the past 10 years and has consistently topped wool sales in Goulburn and now in Sydney.

Hillcreston has held the Australian mainland record for paddock grown wool, which stands at 110,000c/kg and sold an 11.6 micron bale to Raymonds of India for 269,000c/kg in 2008 and an 11.4 micron bale to Raymond’s in 2014.

The Schneider Group had no comment to make about the 1PP bale or its buyer. However, the company has various international clients who process ultrafine and superfine wool in the Pettinatura di Verrone combing mill in Biella, Italy, which is jointly owned with Ermenegildo Zegna, Loro Piana and Marzotto Wool Manufacturing.