The two centres offered only 22,298 bales.

This was the smallest national offering for the year.

It was also the smallest merino fleece offering in more than eight years.

The lack of supply meant the probability of a falling market was remote.

The more likely scenario was price increases.

That is exactly what transpired.

The first selling day saw buyers scrambling to secure their share of a very limited offering.

All types and descriptions enjoyed general price rises of between 20 and 40 cents.

This pushed the benchmark Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) up a solid 22 cents to 1528 cents.

Buyers fought hard for quantity.

But even lesser style wools and wools with less favourable test results experienced similar gains to the better style and spec lots.

The second day was similar to the first, although less extreme.

Buyers continued to push for quantity, but became a little more selective in their purchases.

This resulted in further market increases of 10 to 20 cents.

The Eastern Market Indicator added a further 5 cents to close the week at 1533 cents, an overall increase of 27 cents.

The skirting offering was also the smallest for the year and the result was very similar to the fleece.

All types and descriptions generally rose by 20 to 30 cents.

Again it was the lower vm lots (<3.0 per cent) and wools exhibiting favourable length and strength results that managed the largest gains.

The crossbred market continued to improve.

The week saw price increases of between 5 and 10 cents.

Again, it was the better prepared lines that attracted the greatest buyer support.