Port Elizabeth - The 19th sale of the 2019/20 wool season took place today with 5 488 bales on offer of which 93,8% was sold. The wool market closed 0,4% (65 points) up at a value of R178,06 c/kg (Clean), with the Cape Wools All Wool Indicator closing 0,4% higher. The Australian EMI moved 0,6% down this week. This week saw the Rand at 0,8% weaker against the US Dollar and 0,2% stronger against the Euro, compared with the average rate at the previous sale. The market weakened by 0,5% in US Dollar terms.

Today’s sale consisted of a small offering of 5488 bales, with a limited quantity of pure merino fleeces on offer.
Although medium length wools experienced downward pressure, the fine micron wools lifted the market and resulted in the market gaining 0.4%, as more than 80% of the offering was below 20 micron. Good competition was once again evident for the better quality lots on offer, with the market also supported by the weaker SA currency. The performance of the South African market is encouraging, as the Australian market still closed down slightly, by 0.6 % this week.
The major buyers on today’s sale were: Lempriere SA (1 748), Standard Wool SA (1 691), Modiano SA (1 023) and Segard Masurel SA (277).

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 increased 0,3% to close at R195,38/kg; 18,5 microns moved 0,3% up to close at R190,89/kg; 19 microns lost 2,2% to close at R182,46/kg; 19,5 microns strengthened by 0,3% to close at R185,79/kg; 20 microns was 0,8% stronger to close at R180,81/kg; 20,5 microns lost 0,8% to close at R176,93/kg; 21,0 microns recovered 0,7% to close at R175,63/kg; 21,5 microns improved by 3,7% to close at R178,87/kg; 22 microns fell 0,8% to close at 178,58/kg and 22,5 microns declined by 1,4% to close at R166,42/kg.

The next sale is scheduled for 20 February 2020 where approximately ±9 973 bales will be on sale.