World economic woes weaken wool market

News release - World economic woes weaken wool market

New Zealand Wool Services International Ltd reports prices at today’s auction of approximately 10,800 bales of North Island wool, in Napier, saw lower prices across the board, driven down by the international economic situation.

Currency fluctuations, which would normally have driven wool prices up, had no effect as recent caution from the main markets for New Zealand wool held sway.

According to New Zealand Wool Services International, apart from a flurry of business by Asian buyers in the past fortnight, most other markets have either withdrawn or significantly reduced purchasing activity due to continuing world economic uncertainty.

Some types from today’s North Island sale did not directly line up with types on offer at last week’s South Island wool sale, which further exaggerated the market drop.

Fine crossbreds and hogget wools were 1.5 to three per cent cheaper.

Good style coarse crossbred fleece and early shorn were three to five per cent cheaper, with the poorer style fleece and shorter shears down by one to two per cent.

Combing oddments eased two to three per cent, with shorter categories dropping three to five per cent.

Main competition came from China and Australasian carpets mills, supported by India, the Middle East and Western Europe.

Next week’s sale of South Island wool is on 30 October, in Christchurch, offering a total of 12,250 bales, including a high percentage of merino and mid micron wools.

New Zealand Wool Services International publishes a detailed weekly report on New Zealand wool auction trends. A summary of this can be viewed at http://www.nzwsi.co.nz. The full report is available by negotiation with the company.

Attached table

Please find attached table covering indicators and prices for key wool types from this week's sale. [NI_Sale_23.10.08.xls]

ENDS

Note to editor:
The full and detailed version of the New Zealand Wool Services International New Zealand Wool Report is taken by various national and international corporations, exchanges and agencies, including NZX, Reuters, the UK Wool Report, Meat and Wool New Zealand, Australian Wool Exchange and various others including bank economists and analysts.

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