A group of Mallee wool growers have put their region’s fibre on the map, supplying a major Indian processor with a shipment of prem shorn Merino wool.
Eleven growers supplied 100 bales, which will be combed into tops at a Calcutta mill before the yarn is turned into suiting and knitwear in Japan. The order was brokered by Techwool Trading.
Techwool Trading export trade manager Josh Lamb said local wool representative Paul Kinnaird was keen to find a market for 60-millimetre to 65mm fleece wool with many of his clients turning to biannual shearing.
They were able to match the short wool with the requirements of one of their major clients, Indian Rayon.
In the past, Techwool has put together specialised orders for super fine wools but Mr Lamb said this was the first one for medium wool. The wool averaged 20 micron with one per cent vegetable matter content.
“The beauty of wool from the Mallee area is it is fairly uniform so it was not difficult to put 100 bales together of a similar type,” he said.
“We are never going to be able to do all of our 300,000 bales a year direct with growers but more and more of our customers want to know the story behind the wool and that it is grown ethically,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter if it is India, China, Italy or Japan – they are all interested in wool’s story and provenance. If we can generate a better price through that story then we can get that premium flowing back direct to growers.
“It gives growers another option rather than the auction path, too, and on the day the contract settled (in late October) the price was a 4.5 per cent premium to the market.”
Pinnaroo woolgrower Brad Wallis has moved to shearing twice a year and saw the order as an opportunity to build a new market for his wool.
“It was no more expense. In fact, the price is the price in the shearing shed with no other costs and we are getting a premium,” he said.
“They are a great company to deal with and are always thinking outside the square with things like this.”
“Hopefully next year if they (the mill) are happy with the product they will come back to Techwool looking for another batch from the same growers.”
Fellow Pinnaroo farmer Joel Heinicke was among a group of growers who visited Techwool and Packtainers in Melbourne prior to the wool being shipped last month.
He says the appeal was building a relationship with the end user and capturing a premium.
“It has been an exceptionally good year for our wool because of the rainfall with our yields and wool cuts up,” he said.
“If they see the wool we are producing and really like it, hopefully they look for it again next year.”