MERINO wool prices fell by up to 40 cents this week as the Australian-US dollar exchange rate strengthened from US69 cent level last week to US72 cents during auction sales this week.

AWEX senior market analyst Lionel Plunkett said when converted to US dollars the AWEX-EMI firmed 5 cents this week, reflecting a fleece market which barely registered any movement when priced in the currency-of-choice for most end users.

“It was a different story in local terms however; the Eastern Market Indicator posted a disappointing 26 cent loss,” he said.

The AWEX EMI closed this week on 1234 cents clean, with the indicator in US dollar terms down 5 cents to US881 cents clean.

Brokers pass in 14.6pc of offering

Brokers passed in 14.6 percent of the 38,770 bale offering, which was 5049 bales more than last week’s catalogue.

Mr Plunkett said wool sales started with a stand-alone New Zealand offering on Tuesday.

“Despite an improvement in quality over their previous catalogue, all indications hinted at a softer market.

“The Australian offering duly followed suit on Wednesday, when it tumbled in all three centres,” he said.

“Most types were 30 cents lower, although the finer microns were less certain with their margins and even showed some promise for some of the better types.

“Thursday was steadier and the falls were generally restricted to 10 cents,” Mr Plunkett said.

The mood improved slightly towards the end of the sale and Fremantle even managed to register some modest gains for the finer microns, he said.

Merino skirtings also made losses each day, closing around 40 cents cheaper for the sale.

Crossbred wools were firm through the finer microns, but eased back in the key 28-30 micron range, Mr Plunkett said.

“In spite of the losses across the rest of the market, Merino cardings (MC) continued to find good support and rose 8-12 cents.

“The Western MC Indicator is now at a record high while the east coast is quickly approaching fresh highs for their respective indicators.”

Click here for the latest AWEX Micron Price Guides from Landmark.

Sources: AWEX and Landmark