WOOL brokers adding 2226 bales - 29 per cent in volume - to last week's Western Wool Centre (WWC) offering triggered the biggest market slide in more than two years and the highest passed-in rate for 95 weeks.
The Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX) Western Market Indicator (WMI), as a general guide to overall local market strength, sank 61 cents a kilogram to finish at 1418c/kg clean for the week, according to AWEX statistics.
Until last week, the WMI's biggest single-week drop over the current and previous seasons was 55c/kg - in week six, last August this season and week seven, in August of the 2021-22 season.
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Some woolgrowers refusing to accept substantially lower prices on offer from the get-go last week saw 46.9pc of the first trading day's Merino fleece offering passed in at the WWC - after auction bidding and buyer interest fell well short of brokers' expectations.
On the second day, more than half of the Merino fleece put up for auction failed to sell.
An overall fleece passed-in rate of 49pc for the week was the highest since 67.4pc was passed in during August 2021 at the WWC.
All fleece micron segments suffered price falls, with 19-micron fleece hardest hit.
Its indicative price guide plummeted 93c/kg across both trading days to 1587c/kg, while 21-micron fleece was hit least, losing 55c/kg to 1415c/kg.
Indicative prices for the finer micron fleece segments are now well below their average for the season so far, while 20 and 21-micron fleece prices remain about average.
Merino cardings shed 25c/kg to fall to 785c/kg - the lowest price this season.
After witnessing the dire results putting more wool up for auction had on the market on the first day last week, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Dyson Jones Wool Marketing Services and AWN brokers frantically worked the phones and managed to pull 1205 fleece bales (32.7pc) out of the second day's offering before selling started.
This had a mitigating effect and price falls on the second day were generally less than half of the falls of the previous day.
Buyers had seen and rejected almost 15pc of last week's WWC offering previously.
Early AWEX catalogue listings for this week indicate the WWC offering is set to be 833 bales smaller than last week, at 8981 bales.
But the national wool offering is set to jump by 5302 bales to 48,757 bales and that volume of wool available may well counteract the local reduction in bale numbers.
