AUSTRALIA’S wool fine wool growers are breathing easier, 12 months after the COVID-19 pandemic produced the sharpest percentage drop in the wool market in 17 years.

In 2020, week 40 of the Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) reported a -155c/kg drop, or -10.8 per cent; a 636c/kg drop to 1287c/kg, compared to the previous week.

“This matched the unwanted record of the largest percentage fall in the AUD EMI to have occurred in the past two decades,” AWI reported at the time.

Merino fleece saw the biggest decrease, at -138-203c/kg, with the largest drop seen for 18-micron wool, while crossbred wool fell -109-168c/kg.

By comparison, week 40 this year finished on a high of 1300c/kg – up 15c/kg from the previous week and despite a slight slump to 1291c/kg at the close of last week’s three-day market, numbers were still looking up.

Elders wool sales manager, Lachie Brown said finer wools maintained the upward push seen over the past six months, to “levels that 17 microns haven’t seen for two years”.

“It’s pretty much a two-tiered market at the moment – anything finer than 19 has high demand into China, anything broader, the demand is not quite there at this stage,” he said.

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