The wool industry is taking stock of the first price fall in weeks, after Thursday’s North and South Island auctions.

The price of most fleece types has more than doubled since July last year, to now sit at some of their highest levels since the 1980s.

The recent price rise was halted on Thursday though, with good colour fleece falling by more than 3% on last week’s returns.

Lambswool was 2-3% down, while average style fleece also recorded a drop of just 1%.

Wool Services International Manager John Dawson says the losses shouldn’t be seen as a sign of things to come.

“The market’s taking a bit of a breather, you could certainly say that. Where it goes from here is anybody’s guess, but I can certainly tell you there is a solid platform underneath the market.

“There’s continuing demand, and we predict these levels should continue.

“We can’t say whether or not they come back a bit from here but fundamentally the market is sound.”

Wool brokers are blaming the state of a strong New Zealand dollar against the greenback for the lower returns.