NZ wool market continues to pick up at weekly auction

Friday 8th September 2017

New Zealand's wool market continued to improve at the latest weekly auction, as demand picked up from China, the largest buyer of the fibre, and a decline in the local currency made trading more attractive.

Some 91 percent of the 8,047 wool bales offered at yesterday's North Island auction were sold, and prices lifted for most styles of wool with the coarse crossbred wool indicator increasing to $3.05 a kilogram, up 6 cents from last week's South Island auction and 19 cents higher than the previous North Island auction a fortnight ago, AgriHQ said.

The nation's wool market is picking up this season after coarse wool prices slumped last season when China switched its preference to fine wool and away from strong wool that makes up the majority of the country's clip.

"There was further positivity in the wool market as it slowly climbs its way back from the lows witnessed earlier this year," said AgriHQ analyst Sam Laurenson. "Prices lifted across the board once again, on the back of a slightly weaker dollar and continued demand in preparation for China's winter.

"There is still no definitive indicator to show that the market is going to continue its upward trend, but recent upward moves go a long way to improving market sentiment."

Laurenson noted that compared to the last North Island sale two weeks ago, there was a wider range of wool types on offer and prices lifted for most wool types with 37-micron crossbred wool up 4.9 percent to $3.20/kg, and a strong lift in crossbred second-shear wool with the shorter 37-micron cut lifting 11.8 percent to $2.85/kg. Lamb wool also lifted significantly to $3.85/kg up 24 percent, and Laurenson said this kind of price for lamb wool has not been present in the market since March.

Some 11,700 bales are expected to be on offer at next week's South Island auction.

(BusinessDesk)

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