AUSTRALIAN WEEKLY MARKET REPORT

Comment

The Australian dollar has risen by about 5 cents against the USD in the month of February. The Australian dollar is heavily influenced by commodity prices and with iron ore prices surging, the Australian dollar has moved upwards with it. Added to this are signs that the Australian economy is improving.

The AUD strength against the USD was eventually too much for wool prices to sustain. After initially absorbing the currency movement to record an overall increase in USD terms on Tuesday, the market settled over the next two days as interest from our main trade partner in wool, China, was more subdued. As the market eased, the percentage of growers willing to hold their wool for another day increased. With exceptional seasonal conditions and the strength of all other farm commodity prices, growers are more prepared to hold their wool now than they’ve ever been.

Best style and strength NM wool around 17.0 / 18.0 micron was well supported this week by Italian interests in the last reasonable offering of the season. They closed generally firm for the week and have had a positive influence on our Authentico index’s accordingly.

AWEX Eastern Indicator compared with 19/02/2021

Eastern Indicator

Close: 1306

Change in % -0.91

If you want to learn more about AWEX indicators, visit the official website http://www.awex.com.au

Authentico Index Values

15 Micron

Close: 3174

Change in %:  -2.43

16 Micron

Close: 2564

Change in %: -2.36

17 Micron

Close: 2314

Change in %: +1.80

18 Micron

Close: 1973

Change in %: +0.10

19 Micron

Close: 1727

Change in %: -0.69

Authentico Indicator

Close: 2289

Change in %: -0.39

Forecast

We’ve now seen the last of the usual fine wool sales. We expect as we move towards our autumn, that VM will continue to increase and staple strength could be lower. Any drought affected wool that we are now seeing in the eastern markets is wool that has been held by growers since 2020. These will at least have low VM and could help to offset the increase in VM expected from the freshly shorn clips. As a result of this change in supply that’s expected, we’re likely to see interest in the better specification wools sustained while the discount to the inferior types might increase.

Auction offering – current week

Market          Sale          Offered             Sold       Passed In

North                      S 35                      13221                      11227                15.1%

South                     M 35                     26073                     22355               14.3%

West                       F 35                      10844                      7326                32.4%

Auction offering – next week

Market          Sale          Sale days          Volume

North                      S 36                      T – W                          12715

South                     M 36                   T – W – T                      27852

West                       F 36                      W – T                           9968

 

If you want to see the complete Wool Sales Roster click here.