Wool Prices Soar

January 12, 2007 - Australian wool prices soared 9.1 percent this week as sales resumed following the three-week seasonal recess, reported The Wool Record Weekly.

The clamor for wool this week is explained by a combination of factors. These include healthy levels of inquiry from customers during the break, sustained downstream demand, low stocks at combing and spinning mills in China and India and, most significantly, a looming and alarming fall in raw-material supplies, allied with quality issues stemming from the worst drought on record in key Australian wool growing areas.

All micron categories benefited with the finer end leading the way.

Chris Wilcox, Woolmark's chief economist, does not think consumer demand for wool is strong enough to sustain the new price levels.

High wool prices are also being reported out of South Africa. The wool market there surged to its highest level since 2003 when sales resumed after the Christmas break. Prices increased by 9.2 percent, up 25 percent since the opening of the season and 71-percent higher than the corresponding sale last year.
Staff contact: Rita Kourlis Samuelson, ext. 29

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