Interest in superfine wool continued on Wooltrade last week, with a 15.8 micron line selling for 1534c/kg clean.

Wooltrade market operations manager Tony Benson said the wool market behaved in an interesting pattern of ups and downs last week with a trend to slightly cheaper prices by Friday.

“Wooltrade sales followed suit with sales being stronger on the upswings.

“The unfortunate trend over the last few weeks is that we are drifting lower as the Australian Vs US Dollar exchange rate starts to flatten out and recover slightly from previous lows,” Mr Benson said.

“The Reserve Bank’s interest decision did drive the exchange rate slightly lower, possibly giving the wool market its mid-week upswing.”

Length important for superfine lines

Wooltrade’s top price for the week was offered by Elders Rural Services, branded BOORANA. The five-bale 15.8 micron lot had 0.5 percent vegetable matter, a 69.1pc yield, 77mm staple length and tensile strength of 46 Newtons/kilotex.

“This lot sold for a solid 1,534c/kg clean and this type of wool is a very popular item for exporters to search for, particularly the length where wools above about 90mm can be excluded from the online search,” Mr Benson said.

Boorana Merino stud principal Will Lynch said Wooltrade was another marketing tool for woolgrowers.

“Where the market is at the moment, we need every marketing tool available to us, especially for those finer microns.”

A similarly-specified line of 16.2 microns with staple length of 74mm sold for 1436c/kg clean, showing some interest remains following on from the super fine sale in Yennora last week, he said.

“All other types were cheaper to report except for a parcel of part tender 21 micron Merino fleece selling for 1121c/kg with up to 4pc vegetable matter.

“We had a small flutter into Merino pieces to 15.6 microns that sold for 1265c/kg clean and 18.5 microns at 1149c.”

Mr Benson said AuctionsPlus Wool on Tuesday was very strong for ‘Room 2-type’ wools with nearly 100pc clearance for locks, crutchings and stains for Merinos and crossbreds.

Source: Wooltrade.