Friday, 30 March 2012 08:37

Wool market loses ground

Written by Pamela Tipa

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The wool market was generally down this week due to a combination of strained exporter cash flows, slower demand and a slightly stronger dollar, New Zealand Wool Services International's general manager, John Dawson says.

The Auckland port dispute further impacted on exporter cash flows with some deferred shipping due to lack of containers.

South Island price levels have now come more into line with their North Island counterparts.

The weighted indicator for the main trading currencies compared to the last sale on the March 22 was marginally stronger by 0.5%.

Compared with last week's South Island sale Crossbred Fleece was generally up to 5% cheaper, Early Shorn Second Shear 2.5% cheaper and Short Length Second Shear 2.5 to 5% cheaper. Lambs were up to 3% cheaper. Oddments were 2.5 to 5% cheaper. Compared with last week's North Island sale prices were generally firm with the exception of Lambs which are still 1% above North Island values.

The next sale on the April 4 comprises approximately 12,000 bales of North Island wool.