The Australian wool market finished the week slightly higher as it withstood exchange rate uncertainty, industry analysts said on Friday.
The AWEX Eastern Market Indicator increased four cents to end the week at 745 cents a kilogram clean. The increase reflected a rise of 0.8 percent in the northern market and a rise of 0.3 percent in the southern market.
The Western Market Indicator increased by three cents to end the week at 730 c/kg clean.
"The week's auctions produced mixed to good results for growers against uncertainty with the Australian dollar," woolbroker Landmark said in its weekly report.
A total of 52,102 bales ere offered for sale, compared with 54,581 bales last week. The pass in rate was 11.8 percent, comprised of 10.5 percent in Sydney, 9.0 percent in Melbourne and 19.2 percent in Fremantle. Landmark said the mid-week pass in rate from the southern region of 5.7 percent was well down from a month ago, when national rates ranged from 20 to 25 percent.
"Pass-in rates have consistently fallen since mid September suggesting that growers believe it is a good time to sell for fear of a further slide in prices," it said.
The Australian Wool Industries Secretariat said the buying pattern varied between the regions, with Italian buying strong at the Newcastle sale, while buying for China was the major force in the south and west.
Next week, 66,762 bales will be offered at sales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle.