MAINNational Wool Market Report

Season: 2025/26
Catalogue: 19
Date: 28/01/2026
Port Elizabeth

Tel: +27 41 484 4301
Email: stats@capewools.co.za
Website: www.capewools.co.za
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The 2025/26 wool selling season continued today, with the 19th sale of the season taking place.

The offering of 7 363 bales mainly consisted of long length, fine micron wools and sustainably certified wools comprised 56,7% of the merino wools offered.

Despite the market having to contend with the SA Rand trading 3% stronger against the US$, the market had a good performance today and achieved an excellent overall sales clearance of 98,5%. The market also managed to deliver positive returns in US$ terms.

The all-merino indicator eased slightly by 0,3% to close on R228,18 p/kg, with the certified indicator closing down by 0,9% to close on R231,83 p/kg.

A highest price of R310,49 p/kg (clean)(R232,00 p/kg greasy) was paid for a 2-bale lot of 16,1 micron merino wool.

The Australian market shed 1,6% (AU$) this week, but still managed positive returns in US$ from their previous auction held on Wednesday, 21 January.

The major buyers on today’s sale were BKB Pinnacle Fibres (2 146), Tianyu SA (1 159), Standard Wool SA (1 099) and Stucken & Co (1 073).

The next sale will be held on 4 February 2026 when approximately 7 772 bales will be on offer.

 

Key Indicators
SA Merino Indicator Exchange Rates *
Indicator Unit This Sale Prior Sale % Change Currency This Sale Prior Sale % Change
SA c/kg Clean All Merino 22818 22898
0,3 %
ZAR/US$ * 15,85 16,35
3,06 %
US c/kg Clean All Merino 1440 1400
2,86 %
ZAR/Euro * 18,96 19,15
0,99 %
Euro c/kg Clean All Merino 1203 1196
0,59 %
ZAR/JPY¥ * 9,64 9,66
0,21 %
SA c/kg Clean Certified ** 23183 23399
0,9 %
ZAR/UK Pound * 21,83 21,99
0,73 %
US c/kg Clean Certified ** 1463 1431
2,24 %
USD/AUD * 0,6981 0,6720
3,88 %
Euro c/kg Clean Certified ** 1223 1222
0,08 %
AWEX EMI c/kg Clean 1662 1689
1,60 %
Percentage Difference (Weighted): Non‑Certified and Certified Merino Fleece Wools Sold ***
7,06 %
* Exchange rate values quoted above is based on an average of rate points recorded for the duration of the sale.
** Certified Sustainable Wool: Includes Responsible Wool Standard & Sustainable Cape Wool Standard.
*** Selection: Merino Fleece | MF4 & MF5 | VM < 1,6 | NKT > 28 | >67mm | Minimum of 3 Lots Sold

 

Merino Fleece | MF4 & MF5 | VM < 1,6 | NKT > 28 | >67mm | Minimum of 3 Lots Sold
Percentage Difference Between All Non-Certified and Certified Merino Fleece Wools Sold (Average Price) - 202519
Micron Category 17.0 17.5 18.0 18.5 19.0 19.5 20.0 20.5 21.0 21.5 22.0
Non-Certified Wool (R) Clean 243,91 239,18 235,50 229,46 225,29 223,75 221,24 218,45 216,67 213,66 204,00
Certified Wool (R) Clean 265,22 261,84 256,56 248,78 241,75 238,90 236,22 234,15 232,55 230,77 224,62
% Difference
8,74 %
9,47 %
8,94 %
8,42 %
7,31 %
6,77 %
6,77 %
7,19 %
7,33 %
8,01 %
10,11 %
Merino Wool Indicator excluding Certified Certified Wools (R/kg Clean) 0,00
* Certified Sustainable Wool: Includes Responsible Wool Standard & Sustainable Cape Wool Standard.

 

* Certified Sustainable Wool (Bales)
% Share **
Total All Wool Merino Wool
Offered 3 720 44,8 % 56,7 %
Sold 3 683 45 % 56,2 %
* Certified Sustainable Wool: Includes Responsible Wool Standard & Sustainable Cape Wool Standard.
** Calculated on unique sustainable standard identifiers

 

Sale Statistics (Greasy)
This Sale Accumulative
This Week Previous Week This Season Previous Season (202419)
Turnover (R) 134 748 811 139 681 772 2 481 674 585 2 206 044 868
# Bales 7 253 7 874 144 163 156 934
Mass (kg) 1 131 115 1 210 911 22 166 744 23 888 438

 

Wool Receivals Declared (Greasy)
Current Season Mass (kg) Previous Season Mass (kg) % Change (Y-o-Y)
2025/26 28 679 696 2024/25 30 600 195
6,3 %

 

Offering Analysis (Bales)
Description Catalogue Offering Withdrawn before Sale Wool Offered Withdrawn during Sale Passed Not Sold Sold % Sold
BKB 4457 123 4 334 24 11 48 4 262 98,34 %
CMW 1824 119 1 705 26 0 3 1 676 98,3 %
JLW 148 0 148 0 0 0 148 100 %
MAS 1189 13 1 176 0 0 9 1 167 99,23 %
QWB 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 NaN %
 
This Week 7618 255 7 363 50 11 60 7 253 98,51 %
Previous Week 8437 918 7 519 2 27 89 7 428 98,79 %

 

Buyer Purchases (Bales - Greasy)
Bales
Company This Sale % Share Bales (YTD)
BKB Pinnacle Fibres 2 146 29,59 % 35 902
Tianyu SA 1 159 15,98 % 25 709
Standard Wool SA 1 099 15,15 % 24 369
Stucken & Co 1 073 14,79 % 18 983
G Modiano SA 930 12,82 % 25 188
Segard Masurel SA 439 6,05 % 5 624
Lempriere SA 384 5,29 % 6 234
VBC Wool SA 23 0,32 % 2 154

 

Sale Analysis (Length, Micron & Class - Bales)
This Sale Previous Sale Accumulative
Offered Sold % Sold Offered Sold % Sold Offered Sold % Sold
All Wool
Length
Long 4 053 4 009 98,91 % 4 832 4 769 98,7 % 88 176 87 426 99,15 %
Medium 3 004 2 944 98 % 2 903 2 728 93,97 % 47 422 46 344 97,73 %
Short 304 298 98,03 % 389 363 93,32 % 10 400 9 847 94,68 %
Mixed 2 2 100 % 14 14 100 % 6 010 507 8,44 %
Micron
Fine Wool: =< 20 Micron 4 723 4 665 98,77 % 5 386 5 222 96,96 % 97 632 93 259 95,52 %
Medium: 20.1 to 22 2 347 2 305 98,21 % 2 289 2 234 97,6 % 43 813 40 948 93,46 %
Strong: 22.1 to 24 206 204 99,03 % 261 232 88,89 % 7 334 6 877 93,77 %
Over Strong: > 24.1 87 79 90,8 % 202 186 92,08 % 3 325 3 079 92,6 %
Class
Fleeces 5 217 5 164 98,98 % 5 857 5 725 97,75 % 106 515 105 207 98,77 %
Bellies 779 764 98,07 % 890 840 94,38 % 14 367 13 976 97,28 %
Pieces 970 938 96,7 % 809 769 95,06 % 15 720 15 390 97,9 %
Locks 395 385 97,47 % 566 524 92,58 % 9 394 9 042 96,25 %
Other 2 2 100 % 16 16 100 % 6 108 548 8,97 %

 

Analysis of Bales Sold (Micron, Length & Style)
<=18.0 18.5 19.0 19.5 20.0 20.5 21.0 21.5 22.0 >=22.5
Length
Long 174 273 460 805 943 588 276 103 60 26
Medium 165 253 381 528 525 406 199 85 41 24
Short 62 65 43 21 29 16 6 4 6 5
Mixed 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Style (AWEX)
Style 4 & Better 83 154 180 208 234 191 124 20 9 3
Style 5 241 341 444 621 676 400 190 100 41 17
Style 6 75 95 254 478 510 346 142 41 51 35
Style 7 & Poorer 2 1 6 47 77 73 25 31 6 0

 

Average price of Wool Sold (Micron, Style & Length - Clean)
17.0 17.5 18.0 18.5 19.0 19.5 20.0 20.5 21.0 21.5 22.0
Merino Fleece, AWEX Style 4 - MF4
40 mm Non-Certified 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00
Certified 0,00 203,38 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00
50 mm Non-Certified 0,00 0,00 0,00 207,78 0,00 197,58 0,00 211,37 0,00 0,00 0,00
Certified 244,46 241,42 0,00 226,80 0,00 209,72 221,80 0,00 198,07 0,00 0,00
60 mm Non-Certified 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 227,64 0,00 0,00 215,25 0,00 0,00 0,00
Certified 253,23 254,54 244,03 239,81 235,74 228,75 229,11 228,26 225,57 214,52 0,00
70 mm Non-Certified 0,00 0,00 234,57 231,61 0,00 217,58 221,99 217,63 218,27 215,65 0,00
Certified 265,00 270,00 267,08 254,98 242,00 238,82 237,92 234,70 233,29 230,67 221,55
80 mm Non-Certified 0,00 0,00 231,66 0,00 223,77 217,60 217,16 220,71 0,00 216,25 216,29
Certified 265,11 277,80 268,30 0,00 245,42 243,31 236,37 235,29 234,85 227,41 0,00
Merino Fleece, AWEX Style 5 - MF5
40 mm Non-Certified 0,00 0,00 209,81 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00
Certified 0,00 215,50 0,00 0,00 187,62 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00
50 mm Non-Certified 0,00 214,69 200,92 195,71 211,28 205,08 190,72 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00
Certified 243,21 0,00 230,33 208,65 222,57 212,38 209,86 202,96 199,65 0,00 0,00
60 mm Non-Certified 234,15 0,00 228,29 214,26 213,50 211,03 212,67 0,00 201,71 0,00 0,00
Certified 244,05 240,67 235,76 228,46 232,84 219,53 224,45 0,00 217,20 0,00 217,93
70 mm Non-Certified 232,75 214,19 234,16 212,08 217,20 212,57 215,38 204,73 215,67 218,15 0,00
Certified 257,31 253,13 249,28 245,57 239,17 226,33 235,28 228,81 228,66 0,00 228,90
80 mm Non-Certified 0,00 243,55 235,85 223,01 224,86 222,32 214,34 214,79 216,25 0,00 0,00
Certified 261,73 239,92 255,07 256,89 243,39 234,10 234,40 231,39 0,00 0,00 0,00
Merino Fleece, AWEX Style 6 - MF6
40 mm Non-Certified 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00
Certified 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00
50 mm Non-Certified 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 167,10 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00
Certified 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00
60 mm Non-Certified 0,00 0,00 153,43 0,00 181,16 168,54 0,00 141,88 0,00 0,00 0,00
Certified 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 164,50 0,00 0,00 167,72 0,00 0,00 0,00
70 mm Non-Certified 0,00 0,00 0,00 196,55 200,61 202,43 193,64 213,90 179,09 185,53 0,00
Certified 0,00 208,41 0,00 232,28 0,00 188,05 138,78 0,00 227,58 0,00 0,00
80 mm Non-Certified 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 200,24 187,76 0,00 0,00 218,36 0,00 0,00
Certified 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00
* Certified Sustainable Wool: Includes Responsible Wool Standard & Sustainable Cape Wool Standard.

 

Market Indicators

 

Market Indicators - South Africa and Australia

 

Micron Category Comparisons - South Africa VS Australia
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