Australia-Wool markets slips.

AUSTRALIA-Wool market slips 1.9pc

The Australian wool market finished 1.9pc lower, on average, at sales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle this week.

The eastern market indicator (EMI) fell by 13¢/kg, ending the week at 730¢/kg.

The EMI fell by 9¢/kg on Tuesday, by 3¢ on Wednesday and by 1¢ on Thursday.

Again, the rising $A this week has been a key contributing reason to the fall in auction prices on their opening days of selling.

But once having reached a new price level in US currency, the market stabilised in $A terms, allowing buyers to bid with some confidence, the Australian Wool Industries Secretariat says.

Closing values for the regional indicators were:

• Northern indicator, down 13¢/kg, to 756¢/kg.

• Southern indicator, also down 13¢/kg, to 709¢/kg.

• The western indicator fell the most, by 16¢/kg, or 2.2pc, finishing the week at 702¢/kg.

The western indicator fell by 18¢/kg on Wednesday and rose by 2¢/kg on Thursday, in a two day sale in Fremantle.

A total of 49,571 bales were on offer, down from the previous week’s 47,604 bales, of which 16.7pc were passed in.

The US exchange rate had risen to US65.80¢ by the end of Thursday’s sale, 2.2pc since last week’s sale.

The exchange rate against the euro rose by 1.6pc, to close at 50.96 euro cents on Thursday night.

So, when looked at in other currencies, the EMI actually rose up by 2¢/kg in US terms but was down by 1¢/kg in euro terms, when compared with the previous sale.

The Melbourne sale on Tuesday included a high proportion of Tasmanian wool (55pc) that would have been sold in Launceston in the past.

Prices paid for Tasmanian wool stored in Tasmania take into account the additional cost of moving the wool to Melbourne for overseas shipment.