35th Nanjing Wool Market Conference – 23-25 September 2024

The 35th Nanjing Wool Market Conference was held in Puyuan Tongxiang, Zhejiang Province on 23-25 September 2024. Zhejiang Province is well known as the centre for the production of woollen sweaters. For every ten woollen sweaters sold worldwide seven are produced in Puyuan.

The Conference attracted over 300 local and international delegates. The major sponsors and supporters included Zhejiang Yongjin Biotechnology Co (Dalis), Sunwoo Group (formally Red Sun), WoolWorks New Zealand, AWI/The Woolmark, and Hongyang Wooler.

Joint Working Group sessions of China-Australia, China-New Zealand, and China-South Africa were held on the first day of the Conference. These were followed by local presentations by speakers including the President of China Wool Textile Association Liu Jiaqiang, Klaus Seger President of IWTO, Jeff Ma manager AWI China and Scott Carmody trade consultant AWI.

Liu Jiaqiang outlined the challenging conditions for the wool industry in China driven by low demand at the consumer level. Klaus Seger told delegates that the industry is at a crossroad as it faces a number of challenges. The main challenge is navigating the legislative landscape as the European Union proposes legislation that will negatively affect wool. He called on the industry leaders to support IWTO world in this space with financial contribution that is badly needed (see separate article on Klaus Steger presentation in woolnews).

Scott Carmody outlined the reduction in wool production worldwide. He pointed out that wool growers everywhere will increasingly move away from wool growing unless prices lift from the current low level. He added that wool growers are increasingly moving to dual purpose sheep (meat and wool) and this will inevitably result in coarser wool and reduce the availability of fine and super fine wool. (see separate article on Scott Carmody presentation in woolnews).

The Conference concluded with a Gala dinner. The highlight, as always, was the beer drinking competition sponsored by WoolWorks NZ. This year the competition was won by the well-practiced Australian team!