Wool cheque down

23 May 1997

Wool cheque down

THIS years wool cheques will be down on 1996s, but not by as much as was at one time feared.

British Wool Marketing Board regional manager for England, Mark Powell, told producers at the Devon County Show that the average advance payment for 1997 would be 4p lower at about 48p/kg. With the balance due from last years clip, that would produce an average wool cheque of about 85p/kg, dependent on type and quality.

The board had been selling wool forward, said Mr Powell. Some 3.5m kg of this years clip (most of it still on sheeps backs) had already been traded and made 4p to 5p/kg more than the previous year. But over the past 12 months the value of sterling had increased by 17% and had tended to depress wool prices.