The Australian wool market has continued to decline this week. Fremantle returned to the roster after a one-week break in sales, pushing the national quantity up. There was 28,599 bales on offer nationally, 8,511 bales more than in the previous week. Compared to the corresponding sale of the previous season, there has been 3,499 more bales put through the auction system, an increase of 1.6%. Sales opened in the East and it was immediately apparent that the market was experiencing further price reductions. The individual Micron Price Guides (MPGs) in the Eastern centres lost between 34 and 85 cents for the day, with all microns suffering losses. The Fremantle region was still to realise the reductions from the previous series, so the losses in the West were greater, between 41 and 125 cents. The AWEX Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) lost 46 cents for the day, a 5.0% drop. The second day prices continued to fall, not at the same rate however. The Eastern MPGs lost a further 9 to 43 cents. The EMI fell by another 25 cents, closing the series at 858 cents, a weekly fall of 7.6%. The EMI is now at its lowest point since 2002. Due to a strengthening Australian dollar, when viewed in USD terms the losses were not as severe, the EMI fell by 37 USc to 668 USc, a 5.5% reduction. The crossbred sector also recorded heavy losses this series, 26.0 micron was the most affected with the Sydney and Melbourne MPGs falling by 119 to 154 cents. The 32.0 micron lost another 30 cents, pushing its record low (since AWEX records began in 1995) further down to 190 cents. Next week the national offering reduces to 23,120 bales. Due to small quantities Sydney and Fremantle only require one-day sales, Sydney selling Tuesday and Fremantle selling Wednesday, Melbourne will be in operation over both days.