Australian wool prices dip as 2023-24 season concludes

Despite the drop in Merino prices, the three largest Chinese top makers increased their purchasing rates, accounting for 44 per cent of all Merino fleece bought. The crossbred sector experienced more competitive bidding from a wider range of traders, helping to stabilise prices and even see slight improvements in some areas, the Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) said in its commentary for week 52 of the current wool marketing season.

Overall, the past season can be described as average, with one of the least fluctuating price ranges in recent years. The lowest price point of the season was 1,126ac, with the highest closing price reaching 1,213ac in the first week of 2024. This represents an intra-seasonal difference of just 87ac and a trading range of only 3.8 per cent around the mean. Only two weeks, spanning December 2023 and January 2024, saw weekly closing levels above the 1,200ac mark on the Eastern Market Indicator (EMI), the AWI commentary added.

Looking ahead, the new 2024-25 selling season begins next week with changes in the auction schedule. Unlike previous seasons that featured only two weeks of auctions, the first four weeks will now hold sales, although Fremantle will not conduct a sale in week three. The traditional large offerings will be spread throughout July, leading to an anticipated interesting volume of offerings at the end of August after a three-week recess.

Next week, approximately 36,500 bales are set to be offered.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)