In its November Market Intelligence Briefing Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) outlined wool production, prices, and the impact of Covid. It also looked at China’s domestic market consumption and US wool imports. ProductionFor the season 2021/22 to date, there has been 104.5 million greasy kgs of wool tested, which is 23% above last season’s numbers and 9% above the 2019/20 season. Promising however, is that this ... Read More

Action on wool’s eco rating challenge in the EU brings together an international coalition of organisations that want to ensure clothing sustainability claims in the EU are credible. The EU is shifting to a climate-neutral and circular economy, which means products need to be more energy-efficient, durable, reusable, repairable, and recyclable. Because the fashion and textile industry has such a big environmental fo... Read More

The season-long oscillations of wool pricing continued at the latest Australian wool auctions. The first day of selling had a sale room atmosphere devoid of any confidence and saw prices depreciate, despite the falling value (-0.9%) of the Aussie dollar. On Tuesday, that tune changed to an overwhelming sense of conviction as many buyers attacked the auction from the first lot on Wednesday, the final day. This ren... Read More

British Wool saw good competition in BW133 from a full bench of buyers with prices increasing by an average of 4% to 5% across the board. Prices for British Wool have been steadily recovering over the last few months thanks to consistent demand and after 9 sales the 2021 clip is now approximately 40% sold. British Wool’s offer in BW133 amounted to 1.137m kg and all bar one small speciality lot sold. The clearance... Read More

The North Island only offered 6,200 bales.  The selection consisted of 20% crossbred ewe fleece, 34-38 micron mainly good colour 100/150mm, 55% crossbred second shear, 32-38 micron good colour 75mm plus, 5% crossbred lambs, bulk average colour 30-32 micron, 15% associated oddments and 5% miscellaneous types.  Good buyer sentiment on the better style/colour wools with very strong competition coming on average colour ... Read More

The penultimate sale of the 2021 winter season took place in Port Elizabeth on 23 November 2021, with 86 772 kg on offer of which 96% was sold. The offering consisted of good quality mohair with excellent individual clips. 62% of today’s offering was RMS-certified, which attracted the most competition from the buying houses. The SA-currency tracked weaker today compared to the previous sale. This, combined with t... Read More

Wool Testing Authority Europe announces the appointment of Roman Zheng as their new consultant in China. Roman has 15 years’ experience within the natural and synthetic fibre industry, 11 of which were spent working in the carpet industry. Roman comments; “I am a huge fan of wool and the wonderful products that wool and other natural fibres can be made into, and I am very honoured to have been appointed as consultan... Read More

Australian woolgrowers have voted to maintain a levy of 1.5 per cent on wool sales to fund research, development and marketing of the natural fibre. Growers were given five options to choose from: 0%, 1%, 1.5%, 2% and 2.5%. Before preferences were allocated, the result showed 47% of votes favoured a rate of 1.5%. The next highest option was a 2% rate, with 27% support. After preferences were distributed, 69... Read More

Fibershed’s Executive Director, Rebecca Burgess, has been named one of Textile Exchange‘s Ryan Young Climate+ Awards winners. The Ryan Young Climate+ Awards recognize six leaders driving progress towards a lower impact textile industry with organic, recycled, and regenerative solutions. Alongside Rebecca, winners of the “Climate Leaders” include Prama Bhardwaj of Mantis World, Helene Smits of Recover, and Margot ... Read More

Australian Alpaca farmers are selling their finest fleeces to be made into exorbitantly priced, naturally coloured garments. Only a few months ago, John Bradbury, a Fremantle-based wool processor sold his first shipment of ultra-fine alpaca fleece to the Loro Piana fashion house in Italy. Historically, Australian alpaca farmers have relied on selling their live animals to survive but the importance of fleece is g... Read More

Knitting has always been popular, but lately its uptake has seen real growth. Whether this is a result of people looking for a home-hobby during lockdown, or simply a desire to relax and slow down, demand for knitting yarn is increasing – and manufacturers such as Nundle Woollen Mill are working hard to keep up with demand. About an hour’s drive from Tamworth in NSW, Nundle is a small town with just under 300 inh... Read More

The iconic tennis brand Fred Perry, has launched 3 new styles of knitwear using British wool. Triple Wimbledon champion Fred Perry founded the brand in 1952 when he first designed a pique tennis shirt, since then the Fred Perry products/style have become part of the British subcultural uniform. Faye Waterfield, Brand Reporter at Fred Perry commented “We are proud to have three knitwear pieces made using British w... Read More