General Market Summary

It was a smaller national offering with a wide variety of types. An increased passed in rate (10.8%) resulted with prices easing from the extreme basis the week prior. Ultimately just 26,500 bales were sold. It’s extremely small volume for this time of the season. AWEX reports that first hand offered wool in clean kilograms is down 13.2% compared to the same period last year. Not just are first hand offered bales down, but there remains almost no wool held in store on behalf of growers. This critical shortage is dictating the market terms. Last weeks extreme rise had the AWEX EMI increasing by an incredible 126 cents. This week, while cheaper, it was by less than half of last week’s increase, a common theme in recent times. Prices for 19.5 and broader improved towards the close of sale on Wednesday.