Good spec wool keeps up its appeal

Most wool brokers adhere to that principle and Ken Schlueter, HG Schlueter & Co, Tambellup, and his daughter Amy proved it again last week at the Western Wool Centre (WWC).

The previous week Mr Schlueter had sold 48 bales of Merino wool in five lines to a top of 1005 cents a kilogram greasy.

The hype about a special wool sale in Sydney at the International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO) congress and an Australian dollar worth close to 72 cents US made for a very strong market.

At the WWC that week prices for better-styled and specification broader-micron wools jumped 50-60c/kg clean on their pre-Easter price in response to the strong market, according to Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX), before easing slightly.

As a consequence Mr Schlueter did very well with wool from his Gurleen property.

Last week he put 56 bales from his Miners Rest property up for sale in nine lines through Primaries of WA.

It was similar 19.4-20 micron ewe and wether wool with a 75-80 millimetre staple length from a nine-month, late-February early-March shearing.

It came from sheep with Pooginook bloodlines from NSW and was described by Steve Squires, Primaries' Mt Barker representative, as "good, white wool with very good colour and a well-defined crimp".

But the market last week was very different to the week before.

There was no IWTO hype to promote interest and the US currency had sagged sending the $A seemingly headed for 78c and making Australian wool more expensive for Chinese mills buying it in US dollars.

At the WWC on the Wednesday, AWEX showed prices plummeted 54-59c across the micron range in a major correction.

By the Thursday morning, when the second consignment of Schlueter wool came up for auction, the price plummet had eased back to a gentle slide, but the market was very soft with a high pass-in rate.

The Schlueter wool went against the trend.

There was strong demand and all of Mr Schlueter's wool sold to a top of 984c/kg greasy.

Given the soft market, which continued to sink, Mr Schlueter, who visited Primaries and the WWC with Amy to watch his wool sold, said he was satisfied.

"The prices are OK, they are not as good as last week but they are all around the estimate,'' he said.

"We'll gladly take the money and run."

One highlight for Mr Schlueter was a single bale of daggy and stained wool that sold for 400c/kg.

"A couple of years ago we would have burned that because we didn't think it was worth anything," he said.

The Schlueters run a Merino flock of 5000 and 500-600 Merinos crossed to British breeds, mainly Poll Dorsets.

They also run a small cattle herd.

As well, they are well into their cropping program on 1100-1200 hectares.

"We've got a little bit of canola in, a lot of oats and we'll be putting in some wheat,'' Mr Schlueter said.

He said he had been shearing at nine-month intervals for the past five to six years after starting almost by accident.

"We had a big thunderstorm disrupt our schedule one year and short sheared thinking we would get back on track, but then decided to stick with it,'' he said.

"I think the sheep do better and they produce more wool.

"But you have to be very organised, shearing can be a pain at times when it clashes with harvest or lambing and you have to juggle things."

Last week the Western Indicator finished the week down 44c at 1312c compared to the Melbourne and Sydney, which were down 26c to 1226c and down 33c to 1265c respectively.

At the WWC the pass-in rate of bales that failed to reach their reserve price trebled from the previous week and hit 21 per cent in Thursday's soft market and was 19pc on the Wednesday, well above the national average of 15pc.

A projected WWC offering this week at 942 bales fewer than was offered last week has given brokers hope that the price slide may have bottomed out.