Carpet maker rolls out more optimistic future
Damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle to Bremworth's Napier plant resulted in severe capacity constraints for the carpet maker and a poor half-year performance.
Meanwhile, a new Government directive to prefer the use of woollen fibres in its buildings has the potential to transform the rural sector, according to Bremworth.
However, chief executive Greg Smith says the move could also open the door to cheap imports from the United Kingdom.
He says the coalition announcement, where government agencies will be required to select woollen fibres over synthetic alternatives in their buildings, is significant. But Smith warns that it also has the potential to benefit sheep farmers overseas at the expense of their New Zealand counterparts.
He believes greater clarity is needed to understand whether the intent of the decision is to support New Zealand’s rural economy, reduce the use of plastic materials in construction or both.
Smith claims the move has the potential to double the price of wool farmed in New Zealand but a question remains as to where a government-specified product would fit within free trade agreements with other countries.
He says that while New Zealand wool is generally considered to be suitable for carpet production by international manufacturers, the new policy may see volumes of cheaper imported options become available here. Smith adds that if government procurement policies allowed for imported wool fibre building products to access the New Zealand market, there would be few benefits for New Zealand other than a reduction in the use of plastic.
“It would be soul-destroying for farmers in the sector to see one imported product replaced with another in the construction of publicly-owned buildings,” Smith says. “What we need right now is greater clarity around the parameters of this policy and recognition of the inherent tax benefits to the economy when we support local,” he says.
There have been leadership changes at the Hamilton-based Dairy Goat Co-operative, which has been struggling financially in recent years.
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Another 16 commercial beef farmers have been selected to take part in the Informing New Zealand Beef (INZB) programme designed to help drive the uptake of genetics in the industry.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Kiwi exporters will be $100 million better off today as the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) comes into force.
Making things simpler, not harder, for deer farmers in farm planning and coping with regulations is Deer Industry New Zealand (DINZ) industry capability manager John Ladley’s current focus.
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