Mecardo Analysis - Merino fleece staple strength P&Ds
- By: "Farm Tender" News
- Ag Tech News
- Mar 29, 2019
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Along with fibre diameter, staple strength is the other major wool characteristic which varies according to seasonal conditions. Vegetable matter also varies but with a significantly longer period of time between cause and effect. The effect of staple strength on price varies between micron categories and also between staple lengths. This article takes a look at these relationships.
Figure 1 looks at the median price effect (premiums and discounts or P&Ds) of staple strength on 80 mm long merino fleece during the past five years. The micron categories have been collected into three groups – 16-18 micron, 19-20 micron and 21-23 micron. The P&D use 35-39 N/ktx staple strength as the base, which is set to zero. In practice this P&D is influenced strongly by the proportion of mid-point break (MPB). For this analysis the top 20% and bottom 20% of MPB wool have been excluded.
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For low staple strength, below 20 N/ktx, the median discounts during the past five years were between 4% and 7%. The discounts shrank as staple strength improved and rising to sizeable premiums for 40 N/ktx and greater staple strength for the finer micron categories but not for the medium and broader micron categories. Discounts for staple strength down to mid-20s N/ktx were negligible for medium and broad merino wool.
In Figure 2 the analysis is repeated for 100 mm long merino fleece. The P&Ds present a similar pattern for Figure 1, although slightly smaller in effect.
In Figure 3 the analysis is repeated for short staple length (61-65 mm) merino fleece. Discounts for lower staple strengths are fairly mild (1-2%), but do pick up markedly when the strength falls below 20 N/ktx. Premiums for high staple strength are limited, in part because the staple strength of these short length types tends to be high. Buying plans will be predicated on the average staple strength being in the 40-49 N/ktx for these short staple length wools.
Finally in Figure 4 the P&Ds for 120 mm length merino fleece is shown. While the bar chart jumps around, the effects are relatively minor and inconsistent. Figure 4 shows that there is not a lot or weight given to staple strength when valuing 120 mm length merino fleece wool.
Key points
* Staple strength premiums and discounts are most pronounced for 80-100 mm length merino fleece.
* Staple strength P&Ds are negligible for 120 mm length merino fleece.
* For short staple merino fleece staple length P&Ds are fairly small, expect when the staple strength falls below 20 N/ktx.
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What does this mean?
The one area where staple strength is still a big issue is when, in conjunction with other attributes such as staple length, style and mulesing status, it enables access to specialist fine wool prices both at auction and through direct contracts. Outside of these specialist contracts/consignments the median price effect of staple strength during the past five years has been mild for the core 80-100 mm length merino fleece, and effectively inconsequential for short and long length merino fleece prices.
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