The South Island strong wool indicator last week increased 9c/kg clean, compared to the previous sale, and all price movements were positive.
The continuing positive tone in the crossbred sector saw a good clearance from the bench with lambs wool and better-style ewe fleece most affected, when compared to the previous Christchurch sale two weeks earlier.
Crossbred fleeces sold for $1.50/kg-$1.90/kg clean, depending on the quality of fleece.
Wool coming in at 27 to 29-micron topped the crossbred lamb market at $2.60/kg clean, while 23-micron hogget fleece lifted 3% to sell for $10.40/kg clean.
Despite the lift, 7% of the offering was passed in.
PGG Wrightson South Island auction manager Dave Burridge says with the firming Kiwi dollar and upon entering Chinese New Year, the resulting stronger returns underpinned renewed marketplace activity.
The value of the wool is still largely influenced from the woolshed, CP Wool national wool manager Simon Averill says.
Although wool prices are unacceptably low, wool buyers at auction will pay premium for good style, well-prepared wool.
“Wool preparation in the shearing shed is the start of the wool processing pipeline,” Simon Averill said.
“There is saleroom competition for lines of wool with good colour, free of vegetable matter and free of pigmented fibre and brands, ensuring the grower receives the best price for their wool clip and the buyer does not find any surprises in the wool when it comes to processing.
“While it might be tempting to save some cost and just get the wool out the door, good wool preparation and presentation will deliver long term benefits.”
It will also ensure wool remains a quality fibre of choice with processors and customers.
In an update to shareholders, the Primary Wool Co-operative (PWC) reinforced the importance of caring for wool at shearing time.
“Facing the prices that we’ve seen for the past few years we can understandably be frustrated when we know the fibre is worth more than we’re making in our wool cheques,” PWC chair Hamish de Lautour said.
“If we don’t care for the wool in the sheds the value of our wool product as a nation will continue to suffer,” PWC is working hard to increase the value of wool on the other side of the farm gate through involvement with the companies it works with.”
The co-operative urged shareholders to help by maintaining the integrity of the product on their side of the gate.
In offering some basic guidelines before shearing begins, farmers should ensure that the working conditions of contracting staff are adequate and the shed clean and tidy.
The contractor should be aware of the grower’s requirements, with an acceptable number of wool handlers to ensure a good job is done.
The aim should be for 180kg bales with specification forms filled out in full.
