WEEKLY MARKET REPORT 

Week Ending 14th February, 2020

 AWEX Northern Micron Indices Comparison

MARKET JUST HANGS IN

As expected, Coronavirus and its impact in China are still dominating the news and the flow-on effects for the global economy. It’s a given that economic growth will slow around the world but by how much and for what length of time is impossible to pinpoint, anywhere from 0.5 to 1.5% less growth forecast. The general consensus is this will last for the next 2 quarters at least. The economic slowdown in China is already taking effect as travel restrictions and a slow return to work for most of the population, is massively impacting consumer spending from food to electronics and clothing. The only factories allowed to resume operations thus far are those producing commodities that prevent the contagion, about 10%. It’s hoped another 30% of factories will start work this Monday and most others on 24th February. In regards to wool, port logistics in China are saying there should only be a one week delay for wool to reach its final destination, but this could stretch out to 2/3 weeks depending on availability of containers going back to China. The Chinese government is making an all-out effort to quell the spread of the virus. The big cities have set up screening stations at their entry points and airports and railway stations, with factories not allowed to have any workers on site from quarantined provinces. Many workers if possible are working from home.

The market’s reaction was minimal this week as the AWEX EMI lost just 9 cents to 1568 and 11 cents to 1054 in US$ terms. Fine merino fleece microns <18.5 lost 15 to 40 cents due mainly to a style adjustment from the superfine selection offered in the previous series. 19s and broader were in sellers favour. Skirtings had a worse sale than their fleece counter-parts giving up 40 to 60 cents while all types in the carding sector bar LKS fell by 20 to 30 cents. Crossbreds were the only shining light as increases ranged from 15 to 35 cents.

Europe was again the dominant buyer as China deals with the Coronavirus and many mills still not back into full production. The large capital expenditure of the major buyers has surprisingly been maintained over the past 3 weeks. If shipments are significantly delayed, the cash reserves of buyers will be tested in the short term. Another problem will be sourcing containers to fill with wool on ships returning to China. The lack of ships and containers arriving from China has dramatically fallen over the past 3 weeks which means the quick turnaround for their imports and our exports back to China has gone as has the “backload discount” the shipping companies offered to ensure full containers on the return leg. This now could be a thing of the past as a shortage of container space could escalate shipping prices. Market direction next week is any-ones guess.

Southern Aurora Fwd Prices              

Main Buyers (This Week)

WEEKLY MARKET REPORT 

Week Ending 7th February, 2020

 AWEX Northern Micron Indices Comparison

BUYERS STARE DOWN CORONAVIRUS

The expected falls due to uncertainty over the Coronavirus issue this week didn’t materialise as buyers led by Chinese interests continued unabated. Despite what seems to be an escalating problem with the virus combined with the extension of the Chinese New Year to keep people at home, the start of sales on Wednesday’s market was on firm footings and gathered more momentum on the second day of sales.

There were several industry huddles late last week among trade bodies who discussed options from suspending sales to continuing as normal and maybe with some support from brokers to extend payment terms to allow cash strapped buyers to continue operating. The lockdown in China has meant that no-one is at work to process invoices hence buyers here in Australia are carrying the cost of delayed terms. With $43.35m sold this week it won’t take long to chew up available finance resources, so the extension of payment by even a week allows breathing space until things sort themselves out. Macwool was one of the first brokers to extend payment and free storage to 14 days, which was well received by buyers and, as the week progressed, a further six or seven brokers followed suit.

The positive tone was not universal however as the micron indices show above. Whilst the low vm, better style wools all showed healthy gains this wasn’t the case for the large quantity of low yielding, sub 50% fleece types which struggled to maintain values. There is about 23% of the catalogue not purchased by China but these low yielding, drought effected wools are certainly reliant on Chinese competition, hence our willingness to extend payment terms on behalf of growers to maintain their support.

We have advised buyers we will offer this extension for four selling weeks then review the situation.

In regards to the market, momentum built as the sale progressed to peak as the last lots were sold in each centre. The AWEX EMI added 29 cents to 1577 and 22 cents in US$ to 1065. All microns posted gains of 30 to 60 cents with the larger volume of superior style, finer types in this designated superfine sale in Sydney, where premiums were 150 to 200 cents higher but, as mentioned above, the lots yielding below 50% looked 200/250 cents off the pace. The situation was better for merino skirtings, < 17 micron jumped by 50 to 70 cents with all others 20/30 higher. Cardings were also positive finishing in sellers’ favour. Crossbreds also benefitted from the renewed competition to add up to 20 cents to their previous sale’s prices. Next week has 43,000 bales on offer. Hopefully the people we need to be back at work in China are allowed to work and some form of normality can be restored there. It’s been a crazy few weeks!!

Southern Aurora Fwd Prices              

Main Buyers (This Week)