This week about 10,000 bales of Tasmanian wool is up for auction in Melbourne. Morover, the sales happen together with a lot of drought-affected fleece flooding the fine wool market said, Roberts’s wool manager, Alistair Calvert.

A promising start to spring turned into an early summer and a long dry autumn. A patchy break occurred in April, but with no further rain until June, it will be a long winter with further feeding required. Tasmanian wool growers are becoming disillusioned caught in the fall out of the deepening drought in Queensland and New South Wales.

At the annual designated 'Launceston' wool auction about 30 per cent of the merino fleece failed to reach the growers' reserves.

Fleece lines that were part tender or over-long or just not quite on staple strength etc were about 20 cents cheaper.

According to Alistair Calvert compared with last year, the volume of 16 micron fleece in Australia is up by 70 per cent, and the oversupply is pushing down prices.