News

Earlier this year, the NCWSBA Board postponed the 2020 NCWSBA Wool Broker Award until later in 2020 in the hope that we could hold a face-to-face event at which the Finalists could give a presentation in support of their applications to the Award Selection Panel, the NCWSBA Board and NCWSBA members who were in attendance. However, the continued COVID-19 restrictions, notably the continued travel restrictions between states, have made it impossible to hold such an event this year. The NCWSBA…

The National Council of Wool Selling Brokers of Australia and its members have stumped up in support of the wool industry’s own charity, the Michael Manion Wool Industry Foundation. The money donated by NCWSBA will help the Foundation continue its vital work supporting those in need in rural Australia. The President of NCWBA, John Colley, presented a cheque for $8,000 to the Chairman of the Foundation, Ken Stock, at the Melbourne Wool Selling Centre on Thursday, 18th June. The money was…

In last week’s edition I reviewed the latest on consumer confidence and clothing retail sales in the major wool consuming markets. I noted that consumer confidence in the US had improved from the COVID-induced depths in April. As well, clothing retail sales in the US were showing tentative signs of a revival. This is important as we are now into the start of the Autumn/Winter season in the US, which is a key selling period for wool clothing. The question is, how are the supplies of wool…

We are into the second month of the Autumn/Winter retail season in the Northern Hemisphere, a critical season for sales of wool clothing. Given what has happened this year with the awful toll of COVID-19 and the associated restrictions and now the second wave of infections rising in Europe, the US and, to a lesser extent, Japan, it is time to take stock on how consumer confidence and retail sales are shaping up in the major wool consuming countries in the Northern Hemisphere. Consumer…

The weight of wool tested by AWTA in October was down by 18%. This large drop continues the yo-yoing seen in the weight of wool tested so far this season, after a lift in September which was preceded by falls in July and August. The drop in October seems to be in part due to wet weather holding up shearing in some areas. As well, there are reports of a shortage of shearers and shed-hands due to restrictions on travel across state borders and from New Zealand. For the season to date, the weight…

Cotton prices, as judged by the CotLook A Index (a global benchmark indicator for cotton), have recovered strongly since the COVID-induced slump in March-April this year. After hitting a low of 60.75 USc/lb (133.9 USc/kg) in the first week of April, the CotLook A index has lifted by 28% to 76.7 USc/b (169.06 USc/kg) by the end of October. Even so, this is well below the average of 88.2 USc/lb (194.40 USc/kg) over the past decade. Cotton prices have recovered in recent months due to better mill…

Australian wool prices have fallen sharply in the past 12 months, even after the recovery in recent weeks. The largest declines have been for crossbred wool, particularly at the broad end. Where does that leave prices in historical terms? The EMI in A$ has fallen to the 64th percentile, down from the 89th percentile a year ago That is, current prices are higher than 64 percent of prices since 2000. So, while prices are substantially lower than 12 months ago (and even more compared with 2 years…

As I have reported over the past few months, Australian wool prices have fallen back in the past six months, despite the increase in the past 4 weeks. Have these price declines also been seen in some of the other major wool producing countries? In South Africa, which produces mainly Merino wool of 21 microns and finer, prices have followed a similar trend to that seen for Australia. The South African 21 micron wool indicator has fallen back in the past few months, in line with the trends in…

While demand (or lack of it) has been the focus for the industry in recent months, there have been significant developments on the supply side in Australia. According to the data from AWEX’s Weekly Market report, there has been 326,126 bales offered for sale at auctions so far this season, with 279,981 bales sold. Over 10% of the wool offered this season to date is re-offered wool. These season-to-date figures compare with the statistics from last season to week 14: 334,705 bales offered and…

The latest data on wool exports by the five major wool producing and exporting countries shows the extent of the decline in raw wool demand by the major wool processing countries so far in 2020. However, there are some tentative signs of improvement in the raw wool demand by China, the largest wool processing country. Data on Australian wool exports in July shows that the volume of exports to all destinations were down by 8%. This decline came despite an 8% increase in exports to China. This is…

One positive result of the larger decline in wool prices compared to that of the decline in prices for competing fibres is that wool price ratio against cotton and synthetics has fallen back sharply since March. The fall in the ratio of the wool prices has been stunning, particularly against cotton. The current price ratios for 21 micron and 28 micron wool against cotton are the lowest since May 2011. The price ratio for 18 micron wool is the lowest since March 2014. These are dramatic falls…

It is with very mixed emotions that I deliver to you the President’s report for the last 12 months. It has been a year of turmoil, that continues to evolve on a day by day basis as I write this report. Our beloved wool industry continues to be smashed on all sides. To believe we survived drought, fires and floods, only to be confronted by COVID – 19 really put the icing on the cake. 2020 will long be remembered, for all the wrong reasons. Wool is basically totally discretionary spend and with…

The NCWSBA Annual General Meeting was held on Thursday, 27th August, followed by a meeting of the NCWSBA Board. It was a very different event compared with the event in past years. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the meeting was held as a Zoom videoconference and the AGM was restricted to the business of the AGM. Unlike previous years, there was no updates from AWTA, AWEX and AWI, nor did we have presentations by the Finalists for the NCWSBA Wool Broker Award (the Award has been postponed to…

The NCWSBA Wool Broker Award for 2020 has been launched! This is the ninth year the Award has been offered. This year’s Award is again sponsored by AWTA (as the industry sponsor) and Sheep Central (as the media sponsor). The Award recognises excellence in wool broking by a younger member of our industry – be it client servicing, auctioneering, innovation or other aspects of wool broking. This year’s Award winner will be granted an all-expenses paid trip to Kyoto, Japan to attend the 2021 IWTO…