Australian wool market comes off record high, with Eastern Market Indicator reducing by 10c/kg

The industry benchmark Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) fell by 10 cents per kilogram last week, closing at 1836c/kg.

The southern indicator also saw a slight dip, falling seven cents to close the week at 1800c/kg.

Australian Wool Exchange senior market analyst Lionel Plunkett said the 10 cent decrease did not appear to be too damaging, more just the market moving “two steps forward, one step back”.

“We’ve had some reasonable rises over the last few weeks, including hitting a record level the week before,” Mr Plunkett said.

“These declines are perhaps just the market getting used to that new record level, it may have to retreat before it can have another crack.”

He said most of the decrease can be credited to the northern selling centres, as Fremantle performed surprisingly well.

“It was encouraging to see Fremantle record some pretty good rises, particularly on the last day, that will give us some sort of a guide for this week,” he said.

Mr Plunkett said the selection again consisted of many lower yielding, poorer-styled wools, and these types continued to be discounted.

“In the Merino sector, the better types, which are pretty scarce at the moment, are quite dusty, and might have high amounts of vegetable matter,” he said.

“If buyers can grab those higher-yielding, better-styled spring wool, then they’re jumping on those.”

He said crossbred wool took a bit of a hit.

“The broader, 30 micron wool especially took a hit. They have had some rises recently, so that wasn’t surprising,” he said.

Mr Plunkett said following a week where 42,794 bales were offered, up 173 on the previous week, auction offerings will start to go down.

“Generally from about now, mid-May through to June, we’re going to go through a period where offerings will drop off,” he said.

“It may not have any impact [on the market], buyers will anticipate this because it happens every year, so they will adjust their buying patterns in accordance.”