COMMODITY PRICE INDEX

COMMODITY PRICE INDEX Australia's sheep farmers have taken a battering recently. The value of Australia's wool exports fell by a third to A$2.45 billion ($1.54 billion) in the 12 months to June, the lowest for 14 years. By volume, exports were down by 13%. But the worst may now be over. Prices are up by 15% from a five-year low last October, and demand is picking up, especially in Asia. Admittedly, output is expected to fall again this season, as farmers leave the industry and sheep numbers decline. But the fall in output will be offset by higher sales from farm stocks, as well as from the national stockpile, which stopped taking in more wool last October. On current trends, the stockpile is expected to be exhausted by June 2002.