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27 August 2004
The Australian wool market finished this week with prices 0.5% higher, on average, in Newcastle, Melbourne and Fremantle.
US imports during May rose only marginally, supported by demand for capital goods while imports of consumer goods, including wool textiles and apparel fell for the period.
At the end of the 2003/04 season wool stocks were higher than at the end of the 2002/03 season despite a rapid decline in stocks held in brokers' stores during the final quarter of 2003/04.
In May 2003 Uruguayan raw wool exports to China had been reduced to a trickle as the impact of the SARS epidemic was felt. However during the second half of the 2003/04 season (for at least five of the six months) a recovery in exports to China pushed Uruguayan wool exports higher.
20 August 2004
In the first half of this year consumer apparel spending remained weak in the key wool markets of Germany, France and Italy. While consumer confidence within the euro area has shown positive signs, increases in textile and apparel spending have been disappointing.
A severe slowdown has been evident in Japan's domestic consumption of wool-type interior textiles over the past ten years. Since 1993, domestic production and imports of wool carpets and blankets have been cut to less than half, just one of the victims of depressed economic conditions.
Statistics released by the Chinese Customs Bureau reveal chiefly wool product exports from China grew strongly in both volume (on a kg basis) and value terms during the first five months of 2004.
13 August 2004
The Australian wool market finished this week with prices 1.1% lower, on average, in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle.
Low interest rates boosted housing demand in major economic markets, and with it demand for household furnishings and for wool in interior end-uses. Only in Australia, where interest rates have been rising for longer, has there been a mild housing contraction.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveal that Australian wool exports increased in May in both volume and in value terms, compared with the low levels of May 2003.
6 August 2004
In the first sales after the break, the Australian wool market finished this week with prices 0.6% lower, on average, in Melbourne and Fremantle. Sydney remains in recess until next week.
Western Europe's imports of raw wool (greasy, scoured, carbonised) and semi-processed wool (carded sliver, top, broken top, noil and waste) amounted to 442.7 mkg (actual weight) during 2003, a noteable fall compared with 2002.
Consumption of luxury goods in the US, Canada and East Asia (in particular Japan) picked up during the first five months of 2004, with some of this demand seeping into the higher end European yarn market according to Altagamma (the Italian luxury goods industry body).
2 August 2004
Highlights from the August edition of Monthly Market Briefing: