The upwards trend continued this week for the Australian wool market off the back of strong demand for all types leading to a large increase in the Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) of 95 cents to close the week out at 1117 cents per kilogram, clean.
The EMI has now risen for five out the last six series, gaining a total of 259 cents over this period, an increase of 30.2pc.
The significant price rises helped to lower the passed in rate, the national passed in rate was only 2.4pc.
According to wool industry specialists, the hope is that the upwards trend continues at a steady enough rate to be able to be maintained.
There is fear there that price rises will see wool come out of storage and quantity increase beyond levels that buyers can currently handle, which would result in the market coming back again.
The Merino fleece attracted strong widespread competition, pushing prices continually higher across all microns and descriptions.
As buyers fought hard to secure quantity, the market continued to rise until the final hammer.
So much so, that in a very rare occurrence, by the end of the week the individual Micron Price Guides (MPGs) in the West (which sold last) for 18.0 through to 20.0 micron were higher than in the East.
As Fremantle only sold over one day, all these gains were experienced on Wednesday, the Western Indicator rose by 113 cents, the largest daily rise in the Western indicator since September last year.
Across the country the MPGs for 16.5 to 21.0 micron gained 102 to 158 cents.
The skirting market again followed a similar path to the fleece, strong demand pushed prices up by 100 to 160 cents, 18.0 micron and finer enjoying the largest rises.
The crossbreds recorded further rises but not to the same extent as their merino cousins. The MPGs for 26.0 to 30.0 micron added between 11 and 60 cents for the series.
General increases in locks, stains and crutchings of 30 to 50 cents, pushed the merino carding indicators up by an average of 37 cents.
The large price rises have enticed more sellers to the market, pushing the national offering higher. Next week there is currently 34,093 bales on offer.