Editorial: Wool's Back in the Black

The Fusca strong wool indicator reached $7.14/kg last week, up from $3.49/kg one year ago, breaking the $7 mark for the first time in almost a generation.

Wool prices have struggled for years due to weakening demand, dipping below $2/kg and making it hard for farmers to cover the costs of shearing and transport, especially as both continue to rise.

The good news is that there are signs that demand remains strong in the market.

Market analysis points to more wool being sold by private treaty, indicating buyers' confidence to buy forward.

There is more wool being used domestically in increasingly diverse end uses, and there are reports that stock levels remain low in key export markets indicating strong demand.

However, to sustain prices at these levels, demand must remain strong. To achieve this will require a concerted effort by stakeholders.

For its part, the Government is helping the cause through investment in commercial projects and procurement policy preferencing wool products, and significant investments have been made in innovative wool projects that have the potential to increase demand.

There has been investment into various initiatives for wool by others in the sector too, including the major meat companies, WoolWorks and ASB investing in Wool Impact and supply chain companies like the wool brokers.

Wool Impact says the important thing now is to keep building collaboration, transparency and investment across the sector.

The Wool Alliance - a partnership between Wool Impact, Campaign for Wool NZ, Wool Research Organisation of NZ and Beef + Lamb NZ - is building the case for one focused wool organisation to do the work needed to improve the profitability of wool long term.

Achieving this will require a collective effort across the industry.

While great progress is being made, the journey to long-term profitability is just starting for the wool sector.