Australia-Upturn in the wool market.

AUSTRALIA-UPTURN IN THE WOOL MARKET.

Wool auctions sprang to life this week with the resumption of sales after the Easter recess - the eastern market indicator (EMI) jumped up by 3pc, rising by 23c/kg to 790c/kg.

In Sydney and Melbourne, the biggest gains came for wools of 20 microns and finer, with the 20 micron indicator up by 32c/kg in Sydney and by 33c/kg in Melbourne.

Finer wools lifted even more - the 16.5 indicator rose by 73c/kg in Sydney and by 56c/kg in Melbourne.

AWEX says Sydney was pushed along by another small offering in a two-day sale, ’as buyers struggled to acquire quantity perhaps with an eye on the uncertainty of future offerings’.

Melbourne returned from the Easter recess to a strong market as buyers competed for small quantities of the better style and specification wool on offer.

Even so, Merino fleece wools began the week on a cautious note, with small price increases in fine wool and moderate rises in the 22 to 23 micron range.

Then Wednesday brought forward a more bullish approach, with increases of between 25 and 40 cents in the 20 micron and finer range.

In Fremantle, in a reasonably large two-day offering of 16,000 bales, finer microns initially surged by 20c/kg on the opening day but ran out of steam on Thursday to close on a steady note but maintaining the earlier 20c/kg gain.

Fremantle’s medium to broader microns made consistent 10-cent gains each day, and also closed the week around 20 cents higher.

With 58,000 bales on offer nationally, only 5pc was passed in, indicating grower acceptance of the stronger post-Easter market.

Performance of wool’s regional indicators for the week was:

• Sydney’s northern indicator: up 25c/kg, to 812c/kg.

• Melbourne’s southern indicator: up by 21c/kg, to 771c/kg.

• Fremantle’s western indicator: up by 19c/kg, to 749c/kg.

During the week, the $A firmed by 0.36USc, compared with last week’s sales, reaching 70.85USc at the close of sales on Thursday.

The EM, therefore, rose by 3.5pc when expressed in $US, indicating the strength of demand despite wool being significantly more expensive for many major customers such as China.

Wool was also more expensive for the Europeans, with the EMI up about the same amount in euros, following this week’s rise of the $A agains the euro.