MAINNational Wool Market Report

Season: 2025/26
Catalogue: 29
Date: 22/04/2026
Port Elizabeth

Tel: +27 41 484 4301
Email: stats@capewools.co.za
Website: www.capewools.co.za
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After a week’s recess in auctions the 29th sale of the 2025/26 wool season took place this week, with an offering of 10 737 bales.

The offering was evenly split between long and medium length wools, with 72% of the offering testing 20 micron and finer. Sustainably certified wools comprised 58,2% of the merino wools offered.

The wool market surged today, taking its cue from the strong performance in the Australian market. Good quality individual clips excelled this week, with good premiums for certified wool and an overall sales clearance of 97,1%.

The all-merino indicator gained 5,7% to close on R263,60 p/kg, with the certified indicator rising by 6,4% to close on R269,68 p/kg.

A highest price of R372,37 p/kg (clean) (R255,00 p/kg greasy) was paid for a single bale lot of 15,5-micron merino wool.

The Australian market built on the good performance of the previous week and gained a further 3,8% (AU$ ) this week, compared to the previous sale held on 15 April.

The major buyers on this weeks sale were Standard Wool SA (2 261), BKB Pinnacle Fibres (2 159), Tianyu SA (2 098) and G Modiano SA (1 568).

The next sale will be held on 6 May 2026, when approximately 7 028 bales will be on offer.

 

Key Indicators
SA Merino Indicator Exchange Rates *
Indicator Unit This Sale Prior Sale % Change Currency This Sale Prior Sale % Change
SA c/kg Clean All Merino 26360 24935
5,7 %
ZAR/US$ * 16,44 16,37
0,43 %
US c/kg Clean All Merino 1603 1523
5,25 %
ZAR/Euro * 19,24 19,11
0,68 %
Euro c/kg Clean All Merino 1370 1305
4,98 %
ZAR/JPY¥ * 9,72 9,68
0,41 %
SA c/kg Clean Certified ** 26968 25339
6,4 %
ZAR/UK Pound * 22,12 21,98
0,64 %
US c/kg Clean Certified ** 1640 1548
5,94 %
USD/AUD * 0,7142 0,7035
1,52 %
Euro c/kg Clean Certified ** 1402 1326
5,73 %
AWEX EMI c/kg Clean 1895 1825
3,84 %
Percentage Difference (Weighted): Non‑Certified and Certified Merino Fleece Wools Sold ***
10,33 %
* Exchange rate values quoted above is based on an average of rate points recorded for the duration of the sale.
** Certified Sustainable Wool: Includes Responsible Wool Standard & Sustainable Cape Wool Standard.
*** Selection: Merino Fleece | MF4 & MF5 | VM < 1,6 | NKT > 28 | >67mm | Minimum of 3 Lots Sold

 

Merino Fleece | MF4 & MF5 | VM < 1,6 | NKT > 28 | >67mm | Minimum of 3 Lots Sold
Percentage Difference Between All Non-Certified and Certified Merino Fleece Wools Sold (Average Price) - 202529
Micron Category 17.0 17.5 18.0 18.5 19.0 19.5 20.0 20.5 21.0 21.5 22.0
Non-Certified Wool (R) Clean 296,61 297,25 293,19 278,24 267,91 261,24 251,18 249,66 244,98 241,76 234,40
Certified Wool (R) Clean 324,26 320,83 315,11 302,61 293,15 277,88 275,26 272,34 272,13 267,72 262,71
% Difference
9,32 %
7,93 %
7,48 %
8,76 %
9,42 %
6,37 %
9,59 %
9,08 %
11,08 %
10,74 %
12,08 %
Merino Wool Indicator excluding Certified Certified Wools (R/kg Clean) 0,00
* Certified Sustainable Wool: Includes Responsible Wool Standard & Sustainable Cape Wool Standard.

 

* Certified Sustainable Wool (Bales)
% Share **
Total All Wool Merino Wool
Offered 5 895 51,3 % 58,2 %
Sold 5 774 51,7 % 57 %
* Certified Sustainable Wool: Includes Responsible Wool Standard & Sustainable Cape Wool Standard.
** Calculated on unique sustainable standard identifiers

 

Sale Statistics (Greasy)
This Sale Accumulative
This Week Previous Week This Season Previous Season (202429)
Turnover (R) 239 409 047 125 163 338 4 184 098 684 3 410 099 301
# Bales 10 427 5 638 225 773 240 733
Mass (kg) 1 648 004 913 980 35 156 949 37 023 746

 

Wool Receivals Declared (Greasy)
Current Season Mass (kg) Previous Season Mass (kg) % Change (Y-o-Y)
2025/26 40 562 106 2024/25 41 909 728
3,2 %

 

Offering Analysis (Bales)
Description Catalogue Offering Withdrawn before Sale Wool Offered Withdrawn during Sale Passed Not Sold Sold % Sold
BKB 6484 209 6 275 68 76 114 6 093 97,1 %
CMW 2115 0 2 115 63 2 15 2 037 96,31 %
JLW 371 0 371 0 0 6 365 98,38 %
MAS 1192 1 1 191 1 5 30 1 160 97,4 %
QWB 785 0 785 0 2 13 772 98,34 %
 
This Week 10947 210 10 737 132 85 178 10 427 97,11 %
Previous Week 6692 64 6 628 38 759 952 5 638 85,06 %

 

Buyer Purchases (Bales - Greasy)
Bales
Company This Sale % Share Bales (YTD)
Standard Wool SA 2 261 21,68 % 38 292
BKB Pinnacle Fibres 2 159 20,71 % 53 647
Tianyu SA 2 098 20,12 % 39 169
G Modiano SA 1 568 15,04 % 39 651
Stucken & Co 1 359 13,03 % 29 354
Segard Masurel SA 619 5,94 % 12 232
Lempriere SA 337 3,23 % 11 029
VBC Wool SA 26 0,25 % 2 399

 

Sale Analysis (Length, Micron & Class - Bales)
This Sale Previous Sale Accumulative
Offered Sold % Sold Offered Sold % Sold Offered Sold % Sold
All Wool
Length
Long 4 970 4 788 96,34 % 3 347 2 532 75,65 % 135 525 133 120 98,23 %
Medium 4 960 4 861 98 % 2 629 2 498 95,02 % 78 558 77 050 98,08 %
Short 796 767 96,36 % 644 600 93,17 % 15 491 14 824 95,69 %
Mixed 4 4 100 % 8 8 100 % 11 709 697 5,95 %
Micron
Fine Wool: =< 20 Micron 7 726 7 518 97,31 % 4 729 3 985 84,27 % 158 144 149 342 94,43 %
Medium: 20.1 to 22 2 356 2 297 97,5 % 1 651 1 431 86,67 % 67 920 61 866 91,09 %
Strong: 22.1 to 24 469 433 92,32 % 194 177 91,24 % 10 518 9 958 94,68 %
Over Strong: > 24.1 186 179 96,24 % 54 45 83,33 % 4 878 4 607 94,44 %
Class
Fleeces 7 749 7 544 97,35 % 4 868 4 123 84,7 % 165 694 162 999 98,37 %
Bellies 1 111 1 082 97,39 % 669 561 83,86 % 22 878 22 073 96,48 %
Pieces 1 133 1 080 95,32 % 599 505 84,31 % 25 543 24 980 97,8 %
Locks 733 710 96,86 % 484 441 91,12 % 15 465 14 948 96,66 %
Other 11 11 100 % 8 8 100 % 11 880 773 6,51 %

 

Analysis of Bales Sold (Micron, Length & Style)
<=18.0 18.5 19.0 19.5 20.0 20.5 21.0 21.5 22.0 >=22.5
Length
Long 296 482 814 855 716 439 269 141 141 43
Medium 474 710 757 531 565 335 235 194 82 76
Short 162 227 69 38 15 33 7 11 12 3
Mixed 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Style (AWEX)
Style 4 & Better 246 424 475 396 435 279 196 83 79 10
Style 5 519 703 790 759 487 307 167 150 90 56
Style 6 161 265 355 258 339 181 86 74 53 43
Style 7 & Poorer 6 27 20 11 35 40 62 39 13 13

 

Average price of Wool Sold (Micron, Style & Length - Clean)
17.0 17.5 18.0 18.5 19.0 19.5 20.0 20.5 21.0 21.5 22.0
Merino Fleece, AWEX Style 4 - MF4
40 mm Non-Certified 0,00 197,99 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00
Certified 231,19 226,66 217,68 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00
50 mm Non-Certified 0,00 0,00 0,00 256,91 0,00 0,00 235,52 0,00 223,15 0,00 209,51
Certified 286,69 282,27 276,04 261,73 251,69 256,72 246,70 235,27 0,00 0,00 213,94
60 mm Non-Certified 293,05 281,72 273,16 271,89 255,27 253,92 251,70 233,27 238,71 229,16 227,91
Certified 309,36 303,90 291,23 286,87 272,80 265,95 261,63 261,29 263,13 255,47 239,25
70 mm Non-Certified 303,06 306,71 293,00 283,01 270,48 264,01 251,94 252,74 0,00 0,00 0,00
Certified 319,63 324,09 331,26 311,89 310,84 296,09 282,49 274,82 271,59 265,58 256,89
80 mm Non-Certified 0,00 294,68 0,00 0,00 269,81 269,50 0,00 243,32 252,71 0,00 0,00
Certified 325,66 320,67 323,27 297,24 293,27 280,11 272,65 277,97 273,55 0,00 0,00
Merino Fleece, AWEX Style 5 - MF5
40 mm Non-Certified 0,00 202,91 0,00 214,14 223,71 0,00 186,95 204,59 167,12 0,00 0,00
Certified 248,91 239,79 231,81 226,01 212,39 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00
50 mm Non-Certified 262,75 246,07 251,37 232,66 247,11 210,86 220,63 226,15 210,13 210,14 0,00
Certified 284,84 275,65 270,47 261,51 235,67 261,74 230,96 230,19 0,00 0,00 0,00
60 mm Non-Certified 289,78 271,28 265,65 267,26 254,72 243,22 245,49 0,00 229,85 0,00 0,00
Certified 0,00 293,09 275,20 276,00 269,43 267,16 260,66 254,21 0,00 239,30 0,00
70 mm Non-Certified 289,40 276,08 278,11 267,69 242,85 224,74 243,36 229,53 227,63 245,82 0,00
Certified 322,56 305,54 301,70 289,02 282,89 271,01 268,44 253,10 266,64 252,87 0,00
80 mm Non-Certified 0,00 0,00 264,92 260,54 251,10 243,55 245,39 231,43 231,01 246,74 232,92
Certified 0,00 307,14 0,00 0,00 284,11 280,34 265,50 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00
Merino Fleece, AWEX Style 6 - MF6
40 mm Non-Certified 0,00 196,08 179,65 181,35 175,67 176,60 0,00 0,00 0,00 170,28 0,00
Certified 0,00 0,00 0,00 215,94 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00
50 mm Non-Certified 199,09 249,95 225,81 193,46 223,66 208,95 222,32 234,30 0,00 0,00 0,00
Certified 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00
60 mm Non-Certified 0,00 0,00 0,00 255,12 228,01 224,58 205,40 0,00 228,63 0,00 226,10
Certified 0,00 0,00 0,00 225,18 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 253,18 241,56 0,00
70 mm Non-Certified 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 242,29 0,00 215,06 0,00 179,55 0,00 0,00
Certified 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00
80 mm Non-Certified 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 213,71 0,00 241,80 0,00 0,00 0,00
Certified 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00
* Certified Sustainable Wool: Includes Responsible Wool Standard & Sustainable Cape Wool Standard.

 

Market Indicators

 

Market Indicators - South Africa and Australia

 

Micron Category Comparisons - South Africa VS Australia
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