SKIRTINGS, cardings and crossbred types are still meeting with strong demand at current price levels, Wooltrade market operations officer Tom Rookyard said.

But Mr Rookyard said it appears the bull run of the physical wool market had an anticipated correction last week, with the AWEX EMI ending the week down 17 cents to 1356 c/kg.

Nevertheless, on Wooltrade.com.au 18-20 micron lines firmed in Western Australia, with an 18.3 micron fleece lot offered by Primaries of WA making 1578c/kg clean last week, he said. The four-bale line had a staple length of 97mm, a yield of 60.2 per cent with vegetable matter content of 1.3pc, and a tensile strength of 28 Newtons/kilotex. A nine-bale 20.8 micron fleece line also offered by Primaries of WA made 1520 cents last week. The line had a staple length of 85mm, a yield of 59.2pc with 0.4pc vm content and tensile strength of 34N/kt.

Mr Rookyard said exporters are reporting fleece wool is difficult to sell at the current market value. “Growers seem quite keen to catch the fleece market before it possibly slips further.

“Looking forward, the true test and real potential of the market will begin when the overseas mills have consumed the wool that has been bought over this record run,” he said.

“Then, one would expect that a potential lack of supply could lead to another surge in the market.”

Click here for the Wooltrade top prices summary.

Source: Wooltrade.