South Africa Weekly Market Report (16 March 2021)

Port Elizabeth – The wool market shed some of its gains from the past few weeks and closed 6% down from the previous sale, to close on R162,23 p/kg. A total of 9,886 bales were offered, after 993 bales were withdrawn prior to the sale, with an overall sales clearance of 91,46% of the bales actually offered.

Although the bulk of the offering consisted of 20 micron and finer wools, most of the wools fell in the medium length segment, with a very small offering of sustainable wools.

The market followed the downward trend in the Australian market amidst some market uncertainty, with additional pressure from the stronger SA currency. The Australian

market retracted by 2,3%(AU$) from the previous sale held on Thursday, 11 March.

The SA rand traded 2,4% stronger against the US$, with the market declining by 3,76% in US$ terms.

The major buyers on today’s sale were: Standard Wool SA (2 403), Lempriere SA (2 099), Tianyu SA (1 899) and Modiano SA (1 475).

The average clean prices for the selection within the different micron categories for good top‑making (MF5), long fleeces were as follows: 18,0 microns decreased 5,7% to

close at R210,25/kg; 18,5 microns moved 5,7% down to close at R200,76/kg; 19 microns lost 5,8% to close at R188,58/kg; 19,5 microns weakened by 6,7% to close at R176,35/kg; 20 microns was 6,6% weaker to close at R163,76/kg; 20,5 microns lost 5,9% to close at R155,81/kg; 21,0 microns lost 6,3% to close at R149,17/kg; 21,5 microns tumbled by 6,6% to close at R149,10kg; 22 microns fell 2,7% to close at R142,27/kg and 22,5 microns declined by 8,0% to close at R136,25/kg.

The next auction is scheduled for 24 March 2021 where approximately ±6 398 bales will be on sale.

Source: Cape Wool SA