WOOLTRADE business paused last week as the Australian wool market retreated after making strong ground after the winter recess break.

The AWEX Easter Market Indicator dropped to 1263 cents with consecutive days of retraction during the week, and this flowed onto Wooltrade.com.au, with 41 bales changing hands.

“The falling market meant that Wooltrade had its smallest week since mid-June, when the EMI was sitting at 1262 cent, 1 cent lower than its current position,” Wooltrade market operations officer Tom Rookyard said.

The top-priced lot on Wooltrade last week was a bale of 14.8 micron SUPAAA fleece branded “The Strip”, offered by Australian Wool Network. The lot had a yield of 72.4pc, a staple length of 64mm, tensile strength of 46 Newtons/kilotex and 0.8 percent vegetable matter content.

An 11-bale line of 17 micron fleece wool from Western Australia with a yield of 64pc, staple length of 92mm, tensile strength of 28N/kt and 0.6pc VM made 1466c/kg clean on Wooltrade last week.

A seven-bale 19.1 micron fleece line with a yield of 74.4pc, staple length of 84mm, tensile strength of 43N/kt and 0.6pc VM made 1425c/kg clean. An 11-bale line of 20.7 micron fleece sold for 1328c/kg clean. This line had a yield of 65.5pc, a staple length of 97mm, tensile strength of 39N/kt and 4pc VM.

“Looking forward, combining factors of a larger offering at the physical market plus the falling Chinese stock market, is unsettling demand from the China wool consumers,” Mr Rookyard said.

“Australian exporters are facing lacklustre enquiry from the China mills, which points towards a softer market this week.

“Perhaps an easing in prices will draw some demand from other countries such as India.”

See Wooltrade’s top prices from last week here

Source: Wooltrade.