Prices were reduced from the opening lot of the first selling day and then slowly but noticeably fell as the day progressed.

The western region, which sold last on Wednesday, recorded the largest falls, generally 45 to 65 cents a kilogram.

The drop in price was met with firm seller resistance, as sellers were not prepared to accept the reductions, this resulted in a passed in rate of more than 48 per cent.

The losses felt late on the first selling day in the west, were quickly realised when the eastern centres opened on day two.

By the end of the series, prices across all Merino microns had generally fallen by 50 to 80 cents a kilogram.

As a result of the sharp drop in prices, the national passed in rate was 21.7 per cent, the highest figure since October 2018.

The losses pushed the AWEX Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) down by 59 cents, or a 3.0 per cent drop.

The EMI fell back below 1900 cents a kilogram, closing at 1893 cents a kilogram.

This was the largest weekly fall in the EMI since November last year.

The EMI is now 223 cents below the record it set in August 2018 and 50 cents lower than the corresponding sale of the previous season.

After recording general rises over the past seven weeks, the crossbred sector suffered some large losses in week 46.

After reaching record levels over the previous few sales, the individual Micron Price Guide (MPG) for 28.0-micron was the hardest hit, losing 143 cents for the series in the southern region.

This was a 10.8 per cent reduction and the largest weekly fall in the 28.0 MPG since May 2003.

The national quantity reduces for the following week.

Currently there is only 25,637 bales rostered for sale in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle.

If you have a query, please contact Elders National Wool Selling Centre on (03) 8325 7000.