Wool up marginally at 28th sale of the season

A total of 7 843 bales were on offer at the 28th sale of the wool season, with an overall sales clearance of 91%.

Although the offering consisted of 58% fine-micron wools, less longer-length wool was on offer. Certified sustainable wools comprised 52% of the Merino wools on offer.

Despite the negative trend in the Australian market this week, the market performed well, supported by the weaker SA currency against the US dollar, according to Cape Wools SA.

The non-certified indicator increased by 1,9% to close at R170,23/kg, and the certified indicator gained 2,6% to close at R184,55/kg.

Major buyers were G Modiano SA (2 249 bales), Standard Wool SA (1 587), Lempriere SA (1 130) and Tianyu SA (971).

The OVK auction saw 2 249 bales on offer, of which 96,75% were sold. The highest price of R187/kg went for a one-bale AH lot of 16,2 microns, from the clip of T Barry Farming from the Heidelberg district. The buyer was Standard Wool SA.

Following the Easter recess, the Australian market returned to large offerings and produced some widely varying sales results, particularly between the selling centres, according to Australian Wool Innovation. The recess in sales also saw a slight catch-up in logistics, enabling more containers to be packed and cleared.

But the price gaps for similar micron wool displaying different length, strength and vegetable matter were large, and upwards of 5% to 6% different in value.

In the super-fine end of the market, this extended to almost 20% value premium for those wools with strength readings of 40Nkt plus, lower vegetable matter and displaying better style.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Around 52% of the Merino wools on offer were certified Responsible Wool Standard.