Sheep Industry News April 2024

18.9 million pounds last year, and the 20.6 million pounds average for the previous five years. Import volumes from both Australia and New Zealand were about 24 percent above a year ago. Mutton im ports at 6.2 million pounds in January, were down 27 percent from 2023. Total lamb and mutton imports were up 7 percent from last January but 10 percent smaller than in 2022. Moving forward, imports historically increase in March, due to the seasonal increase in demand. Thus, the increased January import numbers compared to last year and the previous five-year average leads to the question if March imports will be higher than normal. SUMMARY So far through the American lamb supply chain, there have been many people that are happy with higher prices. So far, so good. I’ve highlighted some things to watch for in the coming months, that will spell out the rest of the year. WOOL MARKET The American wool market strengthened slightly in early March in response to some positive signals coming from the major markets for textile demand and improving global financial markets. However, the wool market is not back to normal strength as large supplies of wool are limiting any significant upward price movement in the market.

Depending on quality, the wool market has shown positivity through the first quarter of the year when compared to the fall of 2023. Fine wools closed the first week of March trending upward with the highest gain being in the 18 and 19-micron range at 8 U.S. cents per pound on a clean, weekly basis. This group of wool is still below last year’s prices, but the upward trend is opposite of last year. While most medium wools remained stagnant to slightly lower, 23-micron wool saw a jump of 8 U.S. cents, making it on par with 22-micron wool at U.S. $3.79 per pound. As a whole, medium wool prices remain below 2023 prices. Coarse wool prices for microns 28, 29 and 32 have been hovering around U.S. $1 to $1.22 per pound. Thirty-two-micron wool has been trending higher from 72 U.S. cents per pound in January to 80 U.S. cents per pound at the end of the first week of March. The Eastern Market Indicator started at U.S. $3.70 per pound in January but since trended downward and held steady at U.S. $3.40 per pound through February before gaining to U.S. $3.46 per pound first week of March. Unfortunately, 2024 prices thus far remain below levels seen through most of 2023. The biggest obstacles moving forward in the wool market continues to be large supply of wool, economic uncertainty in the global market regarding consumer demand, and recently, a shipping squeeze looming in the international wool markets.

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April 2024 • Sheep Industry News • 7