THE Australian wool market continued its sharp downward path last week in Week 47, following on from the large losses experienced during the previous week's sales.
Buyer confidence was very low, as exporters tried to see at what point the market would settle.
Prices opened lower and then continued to fall as the sale progressed.
By the end of the first selling day prices had generally been discounted by 40 to 60 cents.
The AWEX Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) lost 52c for the day.
Due to a lack of quantity the Western region was reduced to a one-day sale.
Selling last on Wednesday, the large reductions in price resulted in a passed in rate of 48.7 per cent, this combined with the 10pc of wool withdrawn prior to sale, meant that only 41pc of the original offering was sold to the trade.
This was the lowest clearance rate in the west since 2003.
There were positive signs on the second selling day in the Eastern centres, where only minimal price movements were felt.
This was reflected in the Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) which fell by only 8c.
The EMI lost 60c for the series, closing the week at 1833c.
The EMI has now fallen by 119c over the past two weeks, a drop of 6pc.
The crossbred sector sustained further large price reductions, after the substantial losses recorded the previous week.
Weak buyer demand resulted in 26-32 micron generally falling by 50-110c.
After hitting a record level three weeks ago, the Micron Price Guide (MPG) for 28 micron has fallen by 219c over the past two sales, a reduction of more than 14pc.
