Upward trend on Australian wool market

The Australian Wool Market finished the week 0.4 percent higher, on average, at sales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle this week. The AWEX EMI increased by 3c (+0.4 percent) ending the week at 745c/kg clean.
This reflected an increase of 3c (+0.4 percent) in the North and a increase of 4c (+0.6 percent) in the South, with their corresponding Regional Indicators finishing the week at 769c and 725c clean respectively. The Western Indicator increased by 2c (+0.3 percent) finishing the week at 721c/kg clean.
47,379 bales were on offer (compared with 53,913 last week), of which 10.0 percent were passed in. Pass in rates for Merino fleece and skirtings were 9.3 percent and 11.3 percent respectively. 2,555 bales (5.1 percent) were withdrawn prior to sale and re-offered wools made up 14.0 percent of this week's offering.
When looked at in other currencies, the AWEX EMI rose by 1c in US terms and by 1c in Euro terms when compared with the previous sale. The late strengthening of the US exchange rate was due to the release of some weaker than expected domestic economic data in the USA, particularly in housing and speculation that interest rates will remain unchanged there.
In a two-day sale in Melbourne and Sydney, the AWEX EMI rose by 3c on Wednesday and remained the same on Thursday. The Western Indicator, in a two-day sale, increased by 2c on Wednesday and also remained unchanged on Thursday.
In another good week, with low pass-in rates, the market finished on a strong note with a 3c rise in US terms yesterday. Merino fleece wools made gains across all micron ranges, particularly in the South, where a better offering was on display. Skirtings continued in good demand, particularly in the West.
Crossbreds slightly on Wednesday and again on Thursday in the South, but showed some recovery in the North. Oddments had a mixed week, but generally finished at similar levels to last week's close.
Buyers for China and the topmakers were dominant. Sales will be held in Newcastle, Melbourne and Fremantle next week, when 54,641 bales are currently rostered for sale. The first South African sale of the season will also be held next week.
The current five-week forecasts are all down on last week's prediction and show likely offerings of between 50,000 and 55,000 bales over the period.
ABS exports data for June were released during the week. They show the weight of wool exported last year to be down by 1.8 percent and the value to be down by 3.5 percent, 61.3 percent of exports went to China, 9.9 percent to Italy, 7.1 percent to India and 4.5 percent to the Czech Republic.