CANADIAN commodity trader Viterra has increased its dominance in the Australian wool market.

In the first half of the 2011-12 selling season, Viterra bought 117,076 bales at auction - or a 14.4 per cent share - to be well ahead of the No.2 buyer Rod Franklyn's Techwool Trading, with 71,230 bales or an 8.75 per share.

Viterra moved into wool trading in 2009 with its acquisition of ABB Wool, which included many former BWK Elders staff and clientele.

Viterra's latest auction room share is up considerably on its 2010-11 share of 11.4 per cent.

Other auction data released by AWEX for sales from July-December revealed:

  • ABOUT 82 per cent of Australian wool was sold at auction.
  • AUCTION clearances of 807,647 bales were 6.3 per cent or 54,900 bales down on the corresponding period of 2010.
  • VITERRA was the major buyer of Merino fleece lines at 84,957 bales followed by Queensland Cotton with 48,482 bales. Queensland Cotton is a subsidiary of Singaporean trader Olam.
  • LOCAL exporter Fox & Lillie was the largest buyer of crossbred fleece lines at 20,999 bales.
  • THE top 20 auction buyers, from a list of 63, accounted for 90.6 per cent of total clearances.

Melbourne's auction room business continues to grow - at 51.9 per cent, compared with 48.5 per cent for 2010-11.

Sydney-Newcastle held a 32.7 per cent share.

Fremantle's throughput dropped to 123,807 bales or 15.3 per cent of the national clearance.