Adelaide, 18 April 2024 – The 93rd IWTO Congress took place with 350+ delegates from around the world joining Australian woolgrowers, processors, spinners, designers, and retailers in Adelaide, South Australia. In partnership with Wool Industries Australia, more than 350 members of the International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO) welcomed speakers ‘from paddock to product’. The event was opened on 16 April b... Read More

WoolWorks operates the only two scouring facilities in New Zealand. Following the devastation causes by floods in 2023 the reopening of the North Island Awatoto facility was attended by almost 200 industry leaders from New Zealand and internationally. WoolWorks’ wool scouring operation in Napier was forced to shut down temporarily in mid February 2023 due to extensive flooding. A significant amount of scoured and... Read More

Australia’s shorn wool production is predicted to continue to decline over the current season with New South Wales and South Australia the only bright spots. This is according to the latest Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee’s projection of shorn wool production for 2023/24 which is estimated to reach 324 million kilograms greasy – one per cent lower than the 2022/23 estimate, down 4Mkg on the December... Read More

This week’s Australian wool auctions continued on with the positive price movements gained from the previous week of selling. Both Eastern selling centres saw handy gains across most types and descriptions, but the Western centre at Fremantle had prices trading to the buyers favour. The super fine Merino (finer than 18.5micron) sector extracted the best of the competition as supply in that area dwindles as we head i... Read More

South Island only today offering 8,610 bales.  The selection consisted of 35% crossbred fleece average to poor colour, 75/150mm, 20% crossbred second shear mainly good colour, 75mm +/-, 26% lambs mainly good colour, 16% associated oddments and 3% miscellaneous types.  Main competition on the good colour were Europe and the United Kingdom with China and India soaking up the poor colour fleece with support from loc... Read More

After a week’s recess in auction sales due to the IWTO congress in Adelaide, Australia, the 29th sale of the season took place this week. A larger volume of 12 507 bales were on offer and an overall sales clearance of 92,6% was achieved. The majority of the offering tested 20 micron and finer, with an even split between long and medium length wools. Certified sustainable wools comprised 53% of the merino wools... Read More

A new integrity and sustainability program will boost Australia’s position as a globally recognised supplier of sustainably and responsibly grown wool and set a new standard for wool production and sourcing. Announced at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide today, the Australian Wool Sustainability Scheme (AWSS) signals a new era for the integrity of sustainably certified Australian wo... Read More

Last week a delegation from WoolProducers Australia (WoolProducers), the peak organisation representing Australian wool growers, travelled to Ho Chi Minh City to launch the roadmap for early-stage wool processing in Vietnam in conjunction with attendance at the Saigon Tex 2024 textile exhibition. This marks a significant milestone in the economic collaboration between the two countries, especially for the textile ind... Read More

In partnership with British Wool and the Campaign for Wool, Abraham Moon & Sons (known as Moon) has recently launched a new range of stunning 100% traceable British wool throws. The throws are exclusively available through John Lewis (in-store and on-line) and also via their own website, under their Bronte brand. Moon is one of the last few remaining vertical woollen mills in the UK (based in Yorkshire), where... Read More

Building on its successful marketing campaigns of previous years in China, The Woolmark Company’s new campaign was aimed at making Merino wool the most desirable apparel fibre for consumers in China during the recent Autumn/Winter season. “The marketing campaign involved a two-step rollout to consumers, to first build awareness of wool’s premium natural benefits, followed by a major digital, social and e-commerce... Read More

The US economy grew by less than forecast in the first three months of this year but inflation gathered pace, which could delay an interest rate cut. Official figures revealed the economy expanded at an annualised rate of 1.6%, far below expectations and the growth seen in the final months of 2023. Meanwhile, inflation, which measures the pace of price rises, has increased. At the start of the year, experts had b... Read More

Sales of golf wear in South Korea have recently increased to such a large extent that they now exceed the combined value of the United States and Japanese golf wear markets. Sales reached $9.2 billion in 2022, a 45% year-on-year growth, and the market is expected to steadily grow in the foreseeable future. Golfers tend to prefer premium clothing and show great interest in the quality of the fibre used in their ap... Read More