NZ Agricultural show wool sale well attended

The Paterson family, from Armidale, in the Maniototo, won supreme champion fleece at the New Zealand Agricultural Show with this halfbred entry. Photo: Sally Rae

A live exhibition wool auction held in conjunction with last week's New Zealand Agricultural Show in Christchurch was well attended by buyers, growers and the public.

The event highlighted the market price creation of New Zealand wool, PGG Wrightson Wool's South Island sales team said.

In light of a "dramatic" downturn in fine wool prices in Australia, prices finished firmly for what was seen as the last weighted fine wool offering of the season.

Crossbred prices reflected the low levels of any new business written, especially in China, and there was some real concern for the strong wool textile industry.

Rabobank's latest Agribusiness Monthly said the outlook for New Zealand's coarse wool remained challenged by weak demand and readily available supply.

The coarse wool indicator had ducked below 300c/kg for the first time since March. A strengthening New Zealand dollar against the US dollar had exacerbated soft demand for coarse wool, driving the price declines in the first week of November.

Positively, US wool carpet imports had improved in the first nine months of 2018, lifting 7% year-on-year.India dominated wool floor covering imports, followed by China, and both markets had had improved volumes.

A range of prices.

Lammermoor Partnership (Ranfurly), four bales extra fine halfbred hogget AA, 21.1 micron, 73.9% yield, 1570 greasy, 2124 clean; Erindale Farm Ltd (Palmerston), 10 bales fine halfbred hogget AA, 23.2 micron, 73.35 yield, 1349 greasy, 1840 clean; M H and J Hay (Palmerston), 13 bales Romney hogget AA, 31.5 micron, 74.9% yield, 343 greasy, 458 clean; Rocky Ridge Farm Ltd (Oturehua), seven bales extra fine halfbred hogget AA, 20.8 micron, 77.2% yield, 1660 greasy, 2150 clean; Black Rock Farms Ltd (Outram), 30 bales crossbred AA, 38.9 micron, 79.7% yield, 244 greasy, 306 clean; G D and J D Kingan (Oamaru), 17 bales crossbred AA, 36.8 micron, 80.7% yield, 244 greasy, 302 clean; The Gorge Pastoral Ltd (Oturehua), six bales extra fine merino 5A, 16.7 micron, 73.1% yield, 2120 greasy, 2900 clean; Mount St Bathans Co Ltd (Oturehua), four bales extra fine merino hogget 3A, 16.3 micron, 71.3% yield, 1935 greasy, 2714 clean; Mount Campbell Station Ltd (Alexandra) one bale extra fine merino hogget 4A, 16 micron, 69.4% yield, 1930 greasy, 2781 clean; F M A Taylor t/a Riverrun (Wanaka), four bales fine merino hogget, 16.4 micron, 71.6% yield, 2070 greasy, 2891 clean; The Gorge Pastoral Ltd, two bales extra fine merino hogget 5A, 16.8 micron, 72.4% yield, 2050 greasy, 2831 clean; Rocky Ridge Farm Ltd, four bales fine merino 3A, 16.1 micron, 75.6% yield, 2075 greasy, 2745 clean; Glen Eden Run Ltd (Ranfurly), four bales fine merino hogget 3A, 15.6 micron, 72.2% yield, 2055 greasy, 2846 clean, and five bales fine merino 4A, 16.3 micron, 73.75 yield, 2010 greasy, 2727 clean.