October 2021 export data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) during the past week showed Australia shipped out 33.6 per cent more wool compared to exported wool in October 2020.
The breakdown revealed that the high-volume market of China took an extra 18pc from last October.
But the absolute highlight was the 642pc increase in wool shipped to Italy.
This underscores the huge push in superfine wool prices experienced during the past six months.
This is also shown by the 17-micron decile band that covers data back to 2005 and shows we are sitting at 84pc - although the peak in superfine pricing was in late October at 89pc.
Shipments to India were also up by 42pc and exports to the Czech Republic were 169pc higher .
Comparing the first four months of the new selling season to the end of October in 2021, with the same months in 2020, Australia shipped more than 205,000 extra bales.
And there's no doubt these figures would have been somewhat higher if the current shipping and logistics issues were not such a big factor this year.
Access to shipping and wool combing space in the non-China destinations is limiting the ability of mills to buy more wool than they currently are .
China is not as aggressive as it was in the first six months of the calendar year when it was undertaking a big stock building period .
One of the three Melbourne dump companies has announced an extended break during the Christmas and New Year period, so exporters are gearing up for some changes to their logistics and purchasing schedules to accommodate.
Typically exporters would be able to purchase wool in the first part of January and still be able to achieve an end January shipment to meet January contract obligations.
But with dumps already at capacity, most exporters would have already organised their December contracts. Any wool bought in the last two remaining weeks of wool sales before the Christmas auction recess will wait in brokers' stores and won't be ordered into the dumps until the new year.
Cashflow for exporters is still a major challenge for the trade.
Some exporters have commented that they feel the market could be higher if it were not for the funding issues being caused by containers of wool not being loaded onto vessels that they were booked on.
Whether it was two weeks ago or two months ago when slots were booked, the experience of missed ships is very common now.
Exporters are now taking 20 to 30 days longer to get return of trading capital and there has been much talk about how crucial the much anticipated Christmas auction break will be to get payments for shipments without the pressure of cash outflows to pay the wool bought at auctions.
China shipping is direct, whereas most other wool-using countries have to wait for trans-shipment via a large hub, such as Singapore or Port Keelung in Malaysia or Columbo in Sri Lanka.
So, Chinese exports have had much less interruptions.
But there remain some logistical challenges when wool reaches China now, with its ports operating at over capacity.
The last two weeks of auctions leading up to Christmas are anticipated to be positive, as there has been good inquiry and enough new business to indicate plenty of interest from exporters to secure volume.
And the activity of the indent buyers has been at strong levels combined with National Auction volumes that are closer to 40,000 bales than to the 50-55,000-bale levels that often test out the supply and demand equation.
