The topsy-turvy wool market took an upward spurt last week with the Eastern Market Indicator climbing 32 cents a kilogram clean to finish at 1543c.
Wool earnings so far this season passed the $500 million mark on an offering of 28,149 bales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle. Last week's pass-in rate was 7.6 per cent.
Many veteran wool traders have told AWEX they have never seen such volatility in the market caused in large part by the ongoing trade war between China and the United States,
The EMI has been on a roller coaster ride during the past 10 weeks moving a total 763c during the period in both positive and negative directions, AWEX said.
Dr Peter Morgan from the Australian Wool Industries Secretariat said the feeling among wool exporters last week was more positive.
China was the dominant buyer with support from European and Indian mills.
Buyers were focused on wool 18.5 micron and coarser with prices jumping by 28 to 47c on the first selling day.
As the news of the rises made its way to the west many sellers decided not to offer their wool, resulting in 34pc of the total offering and more than 37pc of the fleece being withdrawn which pushed prices up by 39-55c in Fremantle.
The second selling day saw a consolidation of the gains, adding small increases to those of the previous day.
All the indicators rose for the week with the Northern Indicator up 29c to 1567c, the Southern Indicator by 34c to 1527c and the Western Indicator by 43c to 1653c.
More than 40,056 bales are rostered for sale this week.
Robert Herrmann from market analysts, Mecardo, said the hefty fluctuations in auction wool prices were causing headaches for growers, exporters and processors alike.
"It is hard to imagine anyone is pleased with the recent volatility and it must be damaging the wool markets reputation internationally," he wrote in a market update.
The EMI had shed 98c the previous week to finish at 1511c which ended a three-week upward spike.
AWEX figures show that 85,494 fewer bales have been offered this season compared with last year, a drop of 19.1pc.
The national pass-in rate has been 18.4pc, a rise of 10.6pc compared with the same period in the 2018-19 selling season.
Vernon Graham
Former editor of The Land, former Fairfax Media Agricultural Editor
Former editor of The Land, former Fairfax Media Agricultural Editor
