WEEKLY MARKET REPORT 

Week Ending 1st November, 2019

 AWEX Northern Micron Indices Comparison

NUMBERS LOOK GOOD BUT VOLATILITY TO CONTINUE!!

The promise of a dearer market late last week was spot on as buyers chased wool from the opening lot. Sydney’s market had to play catch-up after its 1 day sale last week but all centres rose more than expected as all fleece microns gained 50 to 75 cents on the opening day then leveled out on the final day. Skirtings had an excellent sale as broader types jumped 40/50 cents while < 18 micron climbed by 70 to 90 cents. XBs also benefitted from the increase in demand up by 60 to 80 cents while the MCI added 100 cents as all types in this sector skyrocketed by 80 to 110 cents.

While any rise in any commodity is welcome, price volatility is always a concern as the past 12 weeks has demonstrated. This sale’s rise was widely tipped but after the opening day’s rises most talk was “gains went too high too fast” and  the shift in the FRX to well above 69 cents was too much as Fremantle’s market pulled back by 20 cents on Thursday - a certain sign of things to come here next week. The sudden upward shift in the A$ came after the first phase of a trade pact with China and the US could be signed ahead of schedule and the US Federal Bank dropped interest rates to 1.5% which resulted in the US stock market setting a new record high. The widely volatile market has auctions highly reactionary to immediate demand (both positive and negative) as buyers don’t want a heavily exposed open position and execute purchasing promptly without price limitations. The +/- 20 cent movements over the previous month has had both sides of the trade (buyers & sellers) confident in what they were doing but the big shift in prices makes trading difficult.

The end of the month saw the release of testing figures from AWTA. October saw a 4.2% fall compared to last October and the progressive total from July to now is 11% less than the same period last year. The volume of wool offered for the current season is 16% (89,400) less than last season - these figures certainly not to improve any time soon. AWI AGM will be held in 3 weeks and voting is under way for the 3 vacant positions on the board from a field of 8 candidates. All shareholders eligible to vote should have received their voting papers by now (electronically or by mail) and are urged to vote from now. If you cannot attend the AGM you will need to appoint a proxy for the meeting. Don Macdonald will be happy to again carry your proxy in what will be a very important election of 3 new board members. As we mentioned earlier we could see a cheaper market next week.

            Southern Aurora Fwd Prices

Main Buyers (This Week)