Market Intelligence
Weekly Wool Market Commentary
Moses & Son is committed to providing our valued customers the most current information and data to empower your decision-making process. Discover our latest Australian wool market weekly update below, along with archived reports for your perusal and analysis.
2024-S40
Week S40: 2/04/2025: The AWEX EMI closed at 1249c, up 4c, at auction sales held in Australia this week. Of the 38,429 bales offered, 94.9% cleared to the trade. Reports of new orders for Chinese mills emerged as the week progressed. In addition to Chinese demand, there was support from India and European buyers. The AUD-USD exchange rate continued to fluctuate between 62.20 and 63.3 US cents during the selling days, with the EMI posting a 1c rise in USD terms, closing at 787c. In a week dominated by discussions on US trade tariffs, Australian agricultural products and the varying negative effects have been in focus from the announcement of reciprocal tariffs. After months of speculation, the US's 47th President has provided some level of certainty regarding the murky future of global trade. The impact of these tariffs on the Australian wool and sheep industries remains largely unknown. However, this week saw a slightly stronger wool market and a substantially stronger sheep market, both preceding the announcement.
Merino Fleece
Tuesday's market opened tentatively, with a large percentage of the MPGs closing slightly below or equal to last week’s levels. Exceptions included the 17.5µ and 18µ MPGs, which performed slightly better across the eastern selling centres. Conversely, Wednesday’s market posted solid rises as new orders trickled in, particularly for 18.5µ and coarser MPGs, which increased by 10c-12c in Sydney, while Melbourne recorded only a modest 1-5c rise for the week. Fremantle saw the most significant gains, with rises of 10-35c. Large trading exporters and the largest Chinese top maker dominated this category, with the top four buyers accounting for 61% of the Merino fleece transactions.
Merino Skirtings
Skirtings in all centres opened at last week’s levels and maintained these prices until the market closed on Wednesday. Lots with poor specifications, high VM, colour, and/or cotted wool sold in buyers’ favour. Like the fleece sector, large trading exporters provided the main buyer support.
Merino Cardings
The Merino Carding sector opened and closed with minimal movement across the MC indicators. Sydney remained unchanged, while Melbourne was 1c cheaper. However, Fremantle’s MC was quoted down 19c for the week, with most declines occurring on Tuesday. Wednesday’s market held firm. Locks and crutches were most affected, while all Merino stains and short Merino lamb’s wool showed very little movement.
Crossbred Fleece
This week saw minor movements in crossbred fleece, as quantities decreased significantly in the northern region, while the southern region, with slightly elevated offerings, posted rises of 3c-12c across the XB MPGs. Two distinct market price conventions continue to operate in this market category, with prices highly dependent on each lot meeting stringent specifications for length and CVD% in FXB and CBK types (diameter variation).
Crossbred Oddments
Crossbreds
Next Week
Offering of 35,699 bales should attract similar competitive tension for the best-style and specified wools, given the closing market direction observed on Wednesday. ~ Marty Moses.
Graphs
Market Commentary
The Australian Wool Testing Authority released its March 25 figures, showing a 2.1% reduction in bales tested for the month and a 9.1% decline year-on-year. AWEX reports that auction bales offered are down by 149,000 (-11%) year-on-year. The combination of these figures and stock losses from the Southern Queensland floods will likely have a devastating effect on sheep numbers in that state. On the eve of the next round of Australian Wool Production Forecast meetings, the impact on national wool production is expected to worsen. While it may take some time for reciprocal tariffs to reveal its full effect the Australian wool market. It would extremely be naive to assume that some impact won’t be felt in key markets as this is not the first time China has had to contend with US-imposed tariffs on its exports to the US.