This is the firm view of former Elders wool agent, now Australian Wool Network wool broker, Mike Crooks, who is fresh back from a trip to Europe where he met with various wool processing interests.

"August is notoriously quiet and while the world's economy may be slowing, I see September as a month where we should see some more activity in the market and hopefully a lift because if we don't see a significant lift this industry will continue to head towards being a cottage industry," Mr Crooks said.

This week's market opened on a weaker note with the eastern market indicator dropping a further seven cents to 852 cents per kilogram clean yesterday, with 17pc of the 22,000 bale offering passed in.

With the Australian dollar hovering around US86 cents, Mr Crooks said he was disappointed the change in the value of the dollar had not lifted the market.

But he said it was not surprising the market had fallen away lately, with Chinese processors finding it harder to send product to the United States given the ongoing credit crunch there.

"Europe will be back in the market soon and Chinese manufacturers will be back working after the Olympic shutdown," he said.

"So many of the world's wool processors have not been running factories lately and they will be looking for more wool very soon."