Australia's wool production expected to decline by 4.3 per cent for the 2015-16 season. There is expected to be a reduction in the number of sheep shorn in 2015-16 after the ongoing high turn-off of sheep and lambs last season. At the same time, average fleece weights across Australia will be slightly lower than in 2014-15. Seasonal conditions are mixed but the fall in average fleece weights reflects difficult seasons in several regions of the country.

Shorn wool production for the 2014-15 season is expected to increase 1.8 per cent over the previous season. The overall increase in shorn wool production in 2014-15 is also a result of the improved fleece weights which partly offset the decline in the number of sheep shorn last season.

Some of the increase in wool tests, receivals and auction offerings late in the 2014-15 season is attributed to the release of on-farm stocks held over from previous seasons as well as the forward offering of wool held in brokers’ stores and earlier than usual deliveries of recently shorn wool in response to the spike in wool prices in May and June. For 2014-15 season, there has been a reduction in volumes of wool 17.5 microns and finer, but an increase in the volumes of 18 to 20 microns, 22 to 23 microns and broad wool.