WOOL prices may have steadied last week, but they did little to allay concerns of weak demand.
Although AWEX's Eastern Market Indicator closed the week up 1c/kg to 884c/kg clean, in US dollars it fell 5c/kg to US820c/kg.
Australian Council of Wool Exporters chairman and head of Queensland Cotton's wool buying operations, Michael Avery, said European demand remained flat while Chinese processors reflected their concerns in moving stocks of tops and yarn.
Evidence of this concern and the weakening of demand was reflected in growing price differentials between the better styled and the lower yielding inferior, high vegetable-matter content wools.
Queensland Cotton was fourth in the buying stakes last week with 2707 bales, behind Techwool Trading, Fox & Lillie and Viterra.
While the national pass-in rate was a relatively high 24.5 per cent a fortnight ago when the EMI fell to 883c/kg, last week growers were more willing to trade with the pass-in rate falling to 11.8 per cent.
One grower who sold all of his March shearing last week was Paul Brady of Stavely Park, near Glenthompson.
Paul offered 34 bales of fleece wool ranging from a hogget line of 17.6 micron to a 19.7 micron adult ewe line.
The hogget line, with a yield of 71.2 per cent, sold for 801c/kg greasy while the best of his adult line at 18.7-micron sold for 764c/kg.
Like most Merino breeders, Paul is waiting for a lift in prices, but agrees today's price is better than where it was a year ago.
He says he is joining 3000 Merino ewes to Merino rams and another 2000 Merino ewes to terminal sires for "the sake of some quick money". He hopes to lift the Merino-to-Merino joinings to 4000 ewes next season.
