Australian wool prices make further gains in week

The Australian wool market made further gains with prices rising 0.9 percent on average values this week, buoyed by the continued weakness of the Australian dollar, analysts said on Friday.
The AWEX Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) rose seven cents to finish the week at 821 cents a kg clean, based on increases of four cents in the northern market (Sydney), and 10 cents the southern market (Melbourne).
The regional indicators ended the week at 823 and 820 cents a kg clean, respectively. The Western Region Indicator jumped 24 cents during the week, to finish at 805 cents a kg clean, although a large part of the rise can be attributed to resumption of sales following the non-selling week in Fremantle last week.
"In another satisfactory week for sellers, the EMI closed four cents up on the first day of selling and a further three cents up on Thursday," said Peter Morgan of the Australian Wool Industries Secretariat in a statement.
The week ended with a positive tone in the auction rooms, particularly in Fremantle, Morgan said.
Rises were recorded across all micron ranges, with strong gains seen for the middle microns, he said.
Notably, the northern 22 Micron Price Guide (MPG) rose 13 cents to end the week at 843 cents a kg clean, while the 18 MPG rose seven cents to end the week at 7094 cents a kg clean.
"A better selection of finer wools from Victoria and Tasmania led to increases for those types in the south on Wednesday," Morgan said.
Pass-in rates remained at similar levels to last week, due to similar demand levels, said woolbroker Landmark.
This contributed to 10.5 percent of the week's 51,035 bales passed in.
"With a stable Australian dollar, market conditions have been very similar to recent weeks," Landmark said.
The Australian dollar spent most of the week hovering above the 68 US cent level.
China were again the dominant buyers with some interest from topmakers and European buyers, Morgan said.
"While always dominant, the strength of China in the market since January is reinforced by analysis of export statistics which show that 50 percent of all greasy wool exports in March and April were destined for that country," Morgan said.
Prices are expected to remain firm next week as two day sales continue at auctions in Sydney and Melbourne, with a much smaller offering of just 34,169 bales currently rostered for sale.