The Australian Wool Exchange Eastern Market Indicator closed on 1202c - up 30c at auction sales in Australia this week.
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According to Moses and Son principal, Marty Moses, the result came on the back of a positive result in last week's sale opener after the Christmas and New Year holiday recess.
The continuation of the positive market trend resulted in 92.4 per cent of the 44,254 bale offering to be transacted.
It was interesting to note that the National offering early estimate was for 49,240 and prior to sale 8,036 bales were withdrawn.
Currency Exchange remained relatively stable over the sale week which aided the confidence of exporters and their Chinese customers.
Merino Fleece opened with the 18 and finer MPG's immediately attracting the buyers attention with rises of 30-75c experienced on Tuesday. 19.5 and coarser MPG's experienced an initial lack of buyer support resulting in a 20c reduction after day one. Wednesday's sale saw the 16.5-18.5 continue to rise with a 27-35c increase across this range for the day, the 19-19.5 also added 12-18c whilst the 20 and coarser types showed a halt to the previous day's fall recouping 4-5c. Thursday's market was Melbourne selling in isolation which added 20c to the Southern MPG with the 16.5-18.5 increasing by a solid 43-73c whilst all coarser micron merino fleece experiencing rises of 12-35c.
Merino Skirtings experienced rises in line with the fleece types with lots finer than 18 categories posting rises between 40-80c.
Crossbreds opened the week with little or no change to last week with the best style and prepared lots maintaining last week's levels. By the closing market, the sentiment improved to add between 1-12c coarser than 28 and -6c for the 26.
Merino Carding opened on a firm note, adding 9c to the MC. Wednesday saw another 20c added with the three Australian centres adding 41c average for the week.
Buyers for indent orders were dominant early in the week with Export Traders having to fight hard for every lot. The push for the superfine types is a direct result of the seasonal impact on the broadening of the national micron profile.
On the forward contract markets, buyers have elevated their bids to above spot levels on almost all of the merino contracts e.g. 18 bid 16th June 1700c, 7c over the closing Melbourne 17 MPG and has caught the 5 year average marker. On the fine and superfine contracts, this is approaching a very attractive level given China is purchasing 90% of our wool and the impact of COVID 19 has had huge impact on woven formal wear market.
Next week's national offering reduces slightly to 43,118 bales and given Thursday's market close in Melbourne, I think the probability of a price positive week mainly for merino wool is pretty good. Crossbreds look set to maintain the current price levels.