WOOL prices rebounded in the first sale after the three-week recess, with 19-21 micron fleece rates improving by up to 60 cents clean.

AWEX senior market analyst Lionel Plunkett said this week’s sales were a stark contrast to the mood immediately prior to the three-week recess, when the benchmark AWEX-EMI had closed lower for five consecutive weeks to fall 152 cents.

“This atmosphere at this sale was much more upbeat and resulted in a 37-cent gain in the AWEX Eastern Market Indicator.

“Given the usual build up in the pipeline of unsold wool during a recess, there was a modest three-centre offering of 41,832 bales — the smallest national total to be offered after any recess (including Christmas and Easter) since a once centre offering in August 2002/03,” he said.

The AWEX EMI finished on 1258 cents after the sales at Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle, with only 3.9 percent of the offering passed in.

With the Australian-US dollar exchange rate at US73.31 cents, down 1.44 cents, the EMI in US dollar terms was up 10 cents to US922 cents.

Mr Plunkett said the market initially opened tentatively with 10 cent rises in the first hour, before gathering momentum and closing the first day 20-30 cents higher.

“Fremantle gave a telling signal when it outperformed in selected pockets late in the day at its one-day auction.

“Buyers continued to support the market into Thursday which had even larger rises,” he said.

“Most support during the week was directed at the 19 to 21-micron range which rose as much as 60 cents clean.

“Either side of this area the margins tended to gradually peter out towards the extremities with 16.5 microns recording the smallest rise.”

Mr Plunkett said Merino skirtings also found good support, although their lift of 20-30 cents paled when compared to the fleece sector.

Overall results for the crossbred wools were mixed, with the finer microns only marginally higher for the week and most of the action was reserved for 28-microns and broader, he said.

“The 30 and 32-microns were as much as 60 cents dearer for the sale.”

Merino cardings had sustainable gains of 20-30 cents, he said. There are currently 30,473 bales rostered next week, 30 percent lower than the previous estimate.

Source: AWEX.