The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Australia’s wool exports shows that the volume of Australian wool exports fell 25% in December compared with December 2017, continuing the decline in volumes for every month this season to date. As a result, the volume of wool exported for the first six months this season is 19% below the same period in 2017/18. This drop is no surprise given the 12% fall in wool tested by AWTA to January and the 18% drop in wool offered at auction to this week. Because supply is so constrained, the best measure of the strength of demand is the value of exports. This fell by 18% year-on-year in December, led by a 22% drop in exports to China and a 55% fall in exports to the Czech Republic. This decline was offset by increases in export value to India, Italy, Korea, Thailand and Japan. For the first half of the 2018/19 season, the value of wool exports from Australia was 1.4% higher at $1.875 billion, suggesting that demand remains strong. However, when looked at a 12-month rolling aggregate basis, the value of exports has dipped from the peak, suggesting that demand has turned down in the past three months.

Further details, including a chart showing the trends in the volume and value of Australian wool exports on a 12-month rolling basis since 2010, are included in the full edition of the NCWSBA Weekly Newsletter. Available to NCWSBA members.