The market report

The Australian EMI lost 1,0% this week.

The Cape Wools All Wool Indicator declined 4,3%.

The wool market lost a bit of steam today primarily due to the strengthening Rand and supported by the continued excellent demand for good quality long and fine Merino wool.

Prices decreased across the board with the fine to coarser ends declining most and over 96% of the wool on offer was sold.

Congratulations to Van Lill Wool Brokers who achieved their highest price to date for ML270 wool of 16.3 Microns at R250,10/kg. There was good competition on the market with Modiano and Standard Wools buying more than 2400 bales each. This week saw the Rand at R14,70 to the US Dollar and R17,17 to the Euro.

The Rand was 5,2% stronger against the US Dollar and 4,4% stronger against the Euro, compared with the average rate at the previous sale.

The offering comprised of 11 228 bales of which 98,9% was sold.

Major traders were Standard Wool SA (2 554), Modiano (2 508), Tianyu SA (2 130) and Lempriere SA (1 869). The average clean prices for the selection within the different micron categories for good top-making (MF5), long fleeces were as follows: 18,0 microns decreased 3,3% to close at R283,10/kg; 18,5 microns moved 2,4% down to close at R270,05/kg; 19 microns lost 4,6% to close at R259,90/kg; 19,5 microns weakened by 3,1% to close at R254,35/kg; 20 microns was 4,5% weaker to close at R244,07/kg; 20,5 microns lost 4,6% to close at R238,79/kg; 21,0 microns lost 5,7% to close at R234,72/kg; 21,5 microns decreased by 2,9% to close at R236,65/kg; 22 microns decreased 5,6% to close at 233,19/kg and 22,5 microns declined by 6,8% to close at R234,32/kg. The next sale is scheduled for 26 September 2018 where approximately ±5 386 bales will be on sale..