WEEKLY MARKET REPORT 

Week Ending 14th June, 2019

 AWEX Northern Micron Indices Comparison

NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET

The market continued on its downward trend as the AWEX EMI lost 41 cents to 1823, its lowest point since early November when it fell to 1776. The past fortnight has seen the EMI lose 64 cents, completely wiping out the 54 cent rise of 3 sales ago. The slight fall in the A$ to low 69 cents didn’t help at all as the EMI in US$ terms gave up 39 cents to 1260. Finer types < 18.5 bore the brunt of the losses - 75 to 100 cents regardless of quality as the higher volume and low yields coupled with subdued demand take their toll on this sector. 19s and broader were wound back by 40/50 cents and, as has been the standard practice for some time in a falling market, better style wools (19 to 22 micron) with good specs were not discounted as much as the inferior, tender, dusty types.

The skirting sector also fell but not to the extent of the fleece types, as 10 to 30 cent losses covered most wools. Cardings fell by 10/20 cents for LKS and CRT while STN gave up 60 to 80 cents to see the MCI fall below 1000 cents, the lowest point for 5 years. Crossbreds weren’t immune from the falling trend as losses looked to be about 20 cents for 25 to 30 micron.

Processors and topmakers dominated the merino market and firm offer forward contractors held sway in the crossbred sector. The two large Chinese indent buyers were very quiet again this sale bar the final day that saw one of them increase their buying activity.

Industry discussion on welfare standards are never far off the agenda and recently the issue of use of pain relief products has been at the forefront. The good news is that there is beginning to be a realisation in some sectors internationally that Australian woolgrowers do practice best welfare standards particularly when pre and post anaesthetic and analgesia are used. The national wool declaration unfortunately only shows a 35% uptake of these products but the figure is likely to be a lot higher. Woolgrowers (merino and crossbred) have little to lose and everything to gain by getting right behind both the NWD and use of pain relief products. We need to protect our rights to grow wool and run our sheep the way we want to without either Govt. or anyone else using a big stick. Next week a very small offering in two centres of just over 20,000 bales should see the ship steady.

Ag Concepts Fwd Prices as at 14 June, 2019

Main Buyers (This Week)