Prices at the Australian wool auctions had their first significant retraction for the 2021 calendar year. Losses were general and across all types and descriptions in a week which had the 1 millionth bale sold for the season.  It took to week 41 last season to reach the same milestone, although that season was interrupted by one week recess due to the cyber-attack on wool users software. The season thus far has s... Read More

South Island offering 7,300 bales and North Island offering 11,200 bales. The selection consisted of 35% crossbred fleece, mainly average style 3/5″, 4/6″, 18% crossbred second shears average/good style bulk 3″, 32% lambs mainly good style 2/3″, 10% associated oddments and 5% miscellaneous types.  Keen widespread competition across most sectors with buyers again competing strongly for the more favourable, better col... Read More

The current Executive Director of the National Council of Wool Selling Brokers of Australia, Chris Wilcox has announced that he will retire as Executive Director on 30th April 2021. Chris has been NCWSBA’s Executive Director since March 2008. Rowan Woods, President of NCWSBA, said “Chris has been the driving force for NCWSBA on the many issues that the industry has faced in the 13 years he has held the position o... Read More

Australian Wool Innovation shareholders will have the opportunity to vote on changes to the AWI Constitution that will put limits on the tenure of directors. A motion that would impose a 10-year limit on the length of director terms on the AWI Board will be put to shareholders at the Annual General Meeting in November where it will require the support of 75 per cent of shareholders to be successful. The Chairman’... Read More

Port Elizabeth – The wool market shed some of its gains from the past few weeks and closed 6% down from the previous sale, to close on R162,23 p/kg. A total of 9,886 bales were offered, after 993 bales were withdrawn prior to the sale, with an overall sales clearance of 91,46% of the bales actually offered. Although the bulk of the offering consisted of 20 micron and finer wools, most of the wools fell in the med... Read More

Is it acceptable for a non-wool product to market itself as vegan wool? Absolutely not, according to Wool Producers Australia. The peak body for Australian woolgrowers is riled up by a marketing campaign for a new product called Weganool, made of three parts cotton and one part fibre from the weed calotropis, which is common in parts of northern Australia. Weganool is processed in India and is being turned into c... Read More

China watchers got a mixed view over the weekend of the country’s all-important manufacturing sector. China’s government reported that manufacturing expanded in March, while a closely-watched private report said factories struggled with poor demand for their products. The National Bureau of Statistics said Sunday that its official index of purchasing managers’ sentiment rose to 53.1 in March from 51 in February. ... Read More

The third sale of the 2021 summer season took place in Port Elizabeth today, 16 March 2021, with 167 887 kg on offer of which 99% was sold. The offering is the biggest quantity of the year so far and consisted of some excellent quality mohair. The buying houses competed actively for all types of mohair on offer with RMS-certified mohair attracting the most competition. The average market indicator increased by 11... Read More

The Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger owner is overhauling its inventory management for changes it expects to outlast the upheaval of Covid-19. New York-based apparel retailer PVH Corp said it will be “significantly negatively impacted” by the COVID-19 but withheld its financial guidance for the first-quarter and full-year 2020 due to the uncertainty over the duration and extent of the impact of the pandemic. The o... Read More

As was the case 12 years ago, Joe Biden enters the White House on an economic rescue mission after an historic US and global recession. Then he was vice president and the world was reeling from the shock of the financial crisis. And while Mr Biden has defended the economic record of his then-boss President Barack Obama, there are plenty on his team who wish the US had done more. This time, Mr Biden’s initial economi... Read More

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The global economy remains fragile and it should be the United States that takes the lead on creating a lasting recovery, the head of the International Monetary Fund said. “Now is another moment for U.S. economic leadership,” said IMF managing director Christine Lagarde in a speech to the Associated Press. Lagarde acknowledged that the global economy has improved in recent months, pointing t... Read More

HIGHTEX International Technical Textiles and Nonwoven Trade Fair, planned for June 22-26, 2021 has been postpone to June 14-18, 2022, considering the effects of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in the world. This postponement decision was taken as a result of intense discussions and evaluations with our participants and sector representatives. The HIGHTEX Organization Team made the following statements: “We as HIGHT... Read More

As the appetite to shop locally and support local businesses grows, The Natural Fibre Company and Blacker Yarns, based in Cornwall, took part in the first-ever Made in UK Day on 9 March 2021. The Made in UK Day campaign was created to celebrate 10 years since ex-retail buyer Kate Hills started the Make it British blog to champion all the wonderful products that are made in the UK.  Since its launch 10 years ago, ... Read More

The monthly comparisons of Total Lots, Bales and Weight for February 2021 compared with the same period last season are: +17.6%, +16.5% and +16.0% respectively.The progressive comparison of Total Lots, Bales and Weight for July 2020 to February 2021 compared with the same period last season are: -7.9%, -5.2% and -4.9% respectively.   AWTA Ltd has tested 195.8 mkg (million kilograms) this season compared with 205.... Read More

U.S. retailers and manufacturers slumped in February due to winter storms and supply-chain disruptions, but a broader economic rebound appears poised to accelerate this spring because of the easing pandemic and another round of government stimulus. Retail sales—a measure of purchases at stores, at restaurants and online—fell by 3% in February compared with the prior month, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. Th... Read More