WOOL buyers turned to Wooltrade to fill orders last week, in the second week of the three-week recess of the AWEX physical auctions.

Wooltrade market operations officer Tom Rookyard said the online system traded its biggest volume of wool in seven weeks (since week 48 of the past auction season), when the AWEX Eastern Market Indicator was at 1312 cents, 100 cents dearer than its current level.

Mr Rookyard said prices for 17 and 18 micron fleece wool sold on Wooltrade last week improved 50-100 cents clean, with 17 micron lines making to 1511c/kg (1100c/kg greasy) and 18 micron lots selling to 1497c/kg (1169c/kg greasy).

The top-priced lot was a 17.8 micron 12-bale line of weaner fleece branded ‘Lincoln Park’ and offered by Roberts of Tasmania. The line yielded 72.8 percent with an average staple length of 75 millimetres, tensile strength of 51 Newtons/kilotex and 0.7pc vegetable matter (VM) content.

The four-bale line of 18.3 micron fleece that sold for 1497c/kg clean had yield of 77.5pc, an average staple length of 91mm, tensile strength of 47N/kt and VM content of 0.3pc.

A 12-bale 19.2 micron fleece line that sold for 1342c/kg clean (970c/kg greasy) had a yield of 72.3pc, a staple length of 89mm, tensile strength of 38N/kt and 0.3pc VM.

A 15-bale 20.2 micron fleece line that sold for 1258c/kg clean (785c/kg greasy) had a yield of 62.4pc, an 88mm staple, tensile strength of 39N/kt and a VM content of 3.1pc.

In the 21-micron category, the top five-bale 21.4 micron line that sold for 11296c/kg clean (740c/kg greasy) had a yield of 57.1pc, a staple length of 81mm, tensile strength of 30N/kt and a VM content of 0.7pc.

A six-bale 22.5 micron lot that sold for 1126c/kg clean (556c/kg greasy) yielded 49.4pc, with a 71mm staple, tensile strength of 31N/kt and a VM content of 0.5pc. A two-bale 28 micron line with a yield of 68.7pc and 2.5pc VM made 917c/kg clean or 630c/kg greasy.

The standout of the skirtings sold last week was a 15.1 micron line of SUPAAA PCS branded ‘Logie’, also offered by Roberts, which sold for 1418c/kg clean (937c/kg greasy). It had a yield of 66.1pc, with a staple length of 70mm, tensile strength of 41N/kt and 4.4 VM content.

Click here to see Wooltrade’s top prices last week.

Source: Wooltrade.