Agribusiness banking specialist Robobank forecasts recovering global demand and garment sales will drive Australia’s wool price benchmark up to the 1600c/kg clean mark in the next year. Dennis Voznesenski, Analyst says, demand indicators for wool are positive almost across the board. He believes, the rise in US retail apparel sales by 9.2 per cent in April has sparked recovery in wool prices.

Voznesenski says, while wool prices had not risen to seven-year highs like some other soft commodities, the Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) is 27pc higher than the beginning of the year and has recently cracked through the 1,400-cent mark for the first time in over a year. Prices of super-fine wool micron have exceeded those of coarser wool and also prices from early 2020 with 17 micron wools rising by 88 per cent since last year’s September low, he adds.

The prices of 20 micron wool have increased by 62 per cent over the same period. notes Voznesenski. The growth is fuelled by improving apparel sales in key end markets, particularly for knitwear and the close-to-skin sectors, together with the associated improvement in processor sentiment.