FINE wools bore the brunt on the market downturn.

The Eastern Market Indicator lost another 26c/kg last week to close at 738c/kg cleanAgainst an early roster of 52,100 bales, last week's catalogues were reduced to 40,485 bales.

The national pass-in rate remained a relatively high 21.1 per cent.

Elders national technical manager Simon Hogan said 20 per cent of the company's Melbourne catalogue was withdrawn before sale as many clients opt to wait for a market upturn.

According to AWEX's indicator rates, superfine wools, particularly in Sydney, were hit the hardest by last week's falls.

The northern 17.5-micron indicator fell 94c/kg to 1209c/kg clean while in the south it was down 43c/kg to 1294c/kg clean.

On a brighter note, the 19-micron indicator in Melbourne closed unchanged at 965c/kg. Exporter and processor Modiano, who has been noticeably absent from the main buying lists in recent weeks, bought 510 bales last Thursday.

BWK Elders, in its weekly report, said exporters and topmakers have been cautious and selective in their buying, targeting particular wools.

It said despite the low levels of supply and the high rates of withdrawn or passed in wool, demand was still unable to keep up with supply.

BWK Elders, which has a joint venture with a Chinese processor, said many mills were now running at less than 60 per cent capacity.

"The saving grace at the moment is the fact that it is more costly to reduce production further than to keep going at the current rate," BWK Elders said.

Among the reluctant vendors in Melbourne last week were brothers Kevin and Jason Pymer, from Wonwondah.

They catalogued 90 bales of a Merryville-blood clip, testing 17.4 to 19.4 micron from the September shearing of 4000 sheep. They sold all but one line. Their best line of 17.5-micron with a yield of 65.6 per cent and a staple strength of 34N/kt sold for 762c/kg greasy. An adult line of 18.3 micron sold for 692c/kg.

Jason Pymer said the current market was tough on young producers trying to make a future in wool.

Like many in the southern Wimmera, the Pymers are heavily into cropping.

They described this year's crops as poor to average.