WEEKLY MARKET REPORT

Week Ending 15^th April, 2016

 AWEX Northern Micron Indices Comparison

 BUYERS’ TACTICS … FRUSTRATING!!

 Wool sales returned to the familiar surrounds of Yennora after 2 “away sales” either side of Easter. It wasn’t the welcoming homecoming that we had hoped for as the softness in the market last Thursday continued unabated as virtually all the gains from last week were wiped out as quickly as they rose. The EMI fell 29 cents in stark contrast to the 31 cent rise the previous sale. Falls were consistent across the board, all microns giving up between 30 and 60 cents. Pass-in rate climbed to 17% as growers were caught by the extent of the falls as all types and descriptions took a battering, bar the best super-fine types <18 micron.

The falls in Room 2 weren’t as big, skirtings remained pretty much unchanged except for types with colour and cott. Cardings lost more ground as most types fell from 5 to 20 cents. Crossbreds also resisted some of the price falls as the finer microns <28 and 32s were unchanged while 28 to 30 lost 25 to 30 cents.

Frustration is probably the only word to describe this week’s sale. How can the market go gang-busters for 2 days adding 40 to 70 cents for fleece types only to give up those gains just as quickly? The writing was on the wall last Thursday as the heat came out of the Melbourne and Fremantle sales but no-one was forecasting the falls or even the gains of the previous sale to the extent they did. History again shows us that 21s cannot stay above 1400 cents, sadly, this time just one day again emphasising just how important locking in forward prices can be.

As is always the case, excuses aplenty when the market falls. The A$ did peak above 77 cents on Wednesday (a 10 month high) certainly not helping - the market did probably rise too quickly in too short of a space of time and the delayed reaction of some brokers to rush wool onto the market after a big rise. Estimates for next week’s sale were 38,000 last Thursday. This jumped to 49,000 yesterday as extra wool in the south and west had been catalogued but will now miss any benefit of last sale’s rises.

Even with the big drop in prices the final day saw buyers willing to buy at the new lower level. Low greasy wool stocks coupled with dwindling volumes of wool tops in the pipeline remain the main driver for future prospects of prices hopefully signaling an upward price direction. Prices should stabilise once the volume of supply drops given demand remains good and the exchange rate stops its erratic movements. Tips are the market could rebound sooner rather than later - here’s hoping!! 

Main Buyers (This Week)