This week’s sale saw just over 41,000 bales offered. The fleece market opened on a softer tone however regained as buyer interest increased to close the day only marginally lower than the previous week. A highlight in the Jemalong catalogue was when one of the buyers interrupted the sale midway through to announce they wished to pay a premium on the lots they had purchased, as recognition and reward for outstanding clip preparation. Such an initiative, while rarely seen, is always welcome and is an endorsement on what the trade have been reporting for some time, and that is ‘that well prepared wools are becoming very hard to source’, especially in the crossbred catalogues.
Throughout both days well-prepared wools with excellent specs were highly sought after and commanded significant premiums. Low VM Skirtings also continued to sell well while locks and crutchings generally traded at similar rates to the previous sale.