WEEKLY MARKET REPORT

Week Ending 7^th November, 2014

AWEX Northern Micron Indices Comparison

A SAD WEEK FOR MACWOOL

A condensed sale in Melbourne due to the Melbourne Cup public holiday saw both east coast centres operating on Wednesday and Thursday with Fremantle holding a one day sale on Wednesday. With Cup celebrations out of the way and winnings collected, wool sales continued in the same vein as the previous Thursday, which traditionally is a good lead as to what might transpire in the next week. The opening day posted solid gains with emphasis on the stylish finer selection <18.5 micron. Thursday saw more intense bidding as the downward shift in the exchange rate to 85.5 cents on Wednesday night from 87 cents was enough to push the buyers to chase the market up by 10 to 20 cents. The EMI added 13 cents to its value, now 1042, as most indicators rose by 10 to 25 cents to claw back half of the past fortnight’s losses. Again, the types with the right specs were keenly sought after as some of our medium lots made up to 30 to 40 cents better than the indicators. There was good support for the lower spec types gaining up to 20 cents. The sharp correction in the exchange rate was put down to a fall in metal prices and the results of mid-term elections in the US which has wrestled power from President Obama and the Democrats to the Republicans two years out from the next election, essentially rendering Obama as a “lame-duck”.

Room 2 buyers were more subdued than their fleece counterparts as just the very best super-fine types moved up in price to the tune of 20 cents with all other microns and VM levels rock solid. The largest oddment catalogue since March (6270 bales, 15%) didn’t spook buyers as subtle rises had both centre’s MCI up by 5 cents as all types and descriptions lifted by 5 to 10 cents. The second biggest crossbred catalogue of the season, 6900 bales, didn’t bother the exporters either as 10 to 15 cent rises across the board were the norm.

On a sad note, we lost one of our great supporters and one of the wool industry’s most astute sheep men on Tuesday. Robert Coddington of East Roseville Stud passed away in Dubbo at 74 years of age. Robert was our very first client back in February 1988 and he and his family have been loyal clients ever since. In it’s hey day the East Roseville Stud was one of the leading merino studs in the country and for years was a major source of AI semen for many studs with some very well known sires among its ranks. Robert was a lovable character, always entertaining and a mentor for many young aspiring sheep men who today rank at the top of their game. He often gave up his time generously tutoring us on the finer points of sheep classing and breeding good wool. He will be sorely missed; his service will be 1pm Tuesday at Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Brisbane St, Dubbo.

A good week as prices improved and Wooltrade sales continued this morning. Hopefully the A$ has come down to a new level. This, coupled with a smaller offering this week (41,500 bales), certainly played its part to kick the market along. Next sale has 49,000 bales up nationally for buyers to fight over.

Ag Concepts Fwd Prices at 7 November

Main Buyers (This Week)