A total of 46,256 bales went under the hammer in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle with wide spread support by the 2 largest Australian Export houses dominating the purchases.

Solid rises in the finer Merino fleece and skirtings were recorded for the week with a national clearance rate of 89.5 per cent recorded.

Merino fleece saw the market post rises over Tuesday and Wednesday with the 18.5 MPG and finer adding between 26c and 67c. Integrity Scheme Certified Non Mulesed wool with superior specifications attracted bids well above the market average, as demand for these types continues to outstrip supply. Conversely, all well specified fleece types attracted keen competition with the exception of the 19 and coarser fleece types giving back some of their early gains as a result of Melbourne selling in isolation on Thursday.

Merino skirtings mirrored the fleece with the lots finer than 18.5 performing extremely well and those coarser than 19 struggling to maintain towards the end of the week.

Crossbreds posted progressive losses of 5c-30c with selective purchasing producing a 23.3% pass in rate in the Northern region. The absence of a major European Crossbred buyer possibly the culprit in the weaker tone.

Merino cardings remained firm across all centres adding 11c in Sydney, up 3c in Melbourne and a 27c increase in Fremantle. Most carding types attracted keen bidding with the exception of heavy VM lots containing hard heads (Bathurst and Noogoora Burr).

Crossbred oddments coarser than 27.5 continued to be poorly supported as were XB lambs containing colour or heavy VM. 27 and finer were progressively well supported.

Exporters reported mixed messages from our major markets during the week. It is evident the competition for declared NM merino wool continues to keep the MPG's in positive territory attracting competition from European, Indian and Asian markets whilst the average style and poor specified lots restricted to Chinese Topmakers at a much lower price basis. As the season on the eastern sea board improves for livestock enterprises, it is evident that the micron profile will gravitate to a broader fibre diameter profile for the Australian clip and I feel the micron profile will continue to trend coarser in the medium term. This is an opportunity for fine wool producers holding their clips to move their wool at very profitable prices.