The exporter took up the opportunity after Graincorp decided to cease trading wool late last year and bought 1754 bales last week.

Gains of up to 90 cents were seen for better fine wool types and while it may not be the start of a sustained recovery, one of the biggest traders with China sees some light along the wool pipeline.

The biggest buyer last week was ABB Wool with 5863 bales and its trading manager Stephen Hill says the lift in prices was due more to a lack of supply of high quality fine wool than any significant change to demand.

"Some were squeezed a little for immediate shipments and the supply of fine wool has really dried up since the last Newcastle sale," Mr Hill said.

"Having drifted lower for a long time I see the fine wool market being a little more volatile into the immediate future and I think the wool market has got to a base and I can’t see much more downside."

Agreeing with him is Australian Wool Networks senior territory manager Mike Crooks, who said the market was more likely to go up than down between now and Easter.

"There has been 180,000 bales less offered so far this season and between now and Easter there is not a lot of wool coming on the market, we could see another 40 to 60 cents rise but nothing too spectacular."

ABB Wool has been one of the more active buyers in the wool trade this year, consistently taking 4000-5000 bales a week, last week it took 14pc of the offering.

Mr Hill added the Chinese buyers and processors of wool were still purchasing on a hand to mouth basis.

"The textile sector in China is an important part of the economy and like us they have had some stimulus packages and I believe there may be more to come," he said.

"There has also been assistance to access cash to buy wool.

"In the past the central government has issued uniform requirements to stimulate production, this is generally a short term fix but it all helps."