After a stellar year for wool prices in 2017, growers in the Canberra region are hoping the record highs in the market will continue into the new year.
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Wool prices on the Eastern Market Indicator went through a meteoric rise last year, reaching a high of 1760 cents per kilo, far eclipsing wool booms seen in 1989 and 2003.
With analysts expecting prices to remain high during the early part of 2018, those involved in the wool industry are preparing to capitalise.
Wool broker Gordon Litchfield, who helps to sell wool for clients from Yass, Cooma and down to the Victorian border, said last year was unprecedented.
"I've been in the business for 25 years, and I've never seen anything like it," he said.
"One of the greatest things about the current market is the depth, all of the categories are strong. You're looking at about an average of $3000 a bale."
There were 12 records broken on the indicator in the previous season, with an estimated $3 billion worth of wool being sold from Australia in 2017.
"While this time last year was good, we haven't seen a bad wool price in 12 months," Mr Litchfield said.
"We have the perfect storm in the market where supply is at low levels and sheep numbers are low, but demand is high. The turnover has been the quickest I've seen."
In the week before Christmas, more than $95 million worth of wool was sold from 49,500 bales.
The last time that amount of wool was sold in a single week, it required more than 75,000 bales.
While wool grower Craig Starr didn't sell any wool during 2017 due to weather, he's looking forward to the high prices continuing when he sells last season's wool early this year.
Mr Starr is the owner of Gold Creek Station in Hall, with his more than 500 merino sheep producing more than 2300 kilograms of wool in November.
"We've been having a really good season, and the last few years have been fantastic," he said.
"We'll be selling after the Christmas break, which is good, because there was a good price just before it."
Mr Starr said recent years had been particularly fortunate for wool growers in the area, coming off the back of drought conditions in 2008.
"We had many friends who lost their farms through borrowing money just to keep the sheep alive, and now it's almost nothing to worry about," he said.
"There's plenty of grass about and the price is good."
Demand for wool from overseas markets is expected to continue to drive the high wool prices, according to Mr Litchfield.
"The majority of the wool goes to China, but it's not necessarily completely Chinese interests," he said.
"There's a lot of European interest, and [European companies] have a lot of mills in China, and the wool will also end up in the North American market."
The wool broker said the next couple of weeks were expected to be some of the busiest.
"Regionally, it's a very busy time for us. We're around our peak volume in late spring and early summer," he said.
"We're selling over 1200 bales next week, so there's a bit of trepidation because we finished last year on such a strong note, and we're hoping for that to continue."
