Australian wool industry faces major Chinese market pressure
Wool Producers Australia chief Jo Hall says major market changes are taking place in China over mulesing. Here’s why.
Chinese wool buyers are ramping up pressure on Australia over mulesing, Wool Producers Australia chief executive Jo Hall says.
Speaking at the Victorian Farmers Federation livestock conference, Ms Hall told delegates that Chinese industry was increasingly focused on Responsible Wool Standard-certified clips due to consumer demand both within China and internationally.
Ms Hall said ignoring consumer concerns over mulesing would ultimately cost Australia its competitive advantage, with South Africa’s wool industry gaining an edge in recent years.
“China is always going to be a major player in our industry, regardless of the size of it,” the Wool Producers Australia chief said.
“China, not only buys up to sort of 80 to 85 per cent at the moment, and they can consume 50 per cent of that domestically, but then they process and export further.
“Something I also hear within industry is that ‘China doesn’t care about animal welfare’ or mulesing specifically.
“China does care — well, China may or may not care, but their customers do — and I’ve been in a number of joint Australia-China wool working groups over many years, but certainly in the last two years, maybe it was 2023, when you have Chinese processor saying: ‘When is Australia going to start producing more RWS accredited — ie non-mulesed wool.”
In May at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress, Nanjing Wool Market director Jiang Yali told delegates at the French forum that there was a growing Chinese preference for South African wool.
Mr Yali indicated the entirety of South Africa’s wool clip was non-mulesed, at a time when Beijing and Pretoria are growing increasingly close economically.
“You can’t hand on heart say that China doesn’t care (over mulesing),” Ms Hall said.
“If we’re not having these types of conversations and excuses keep being put up by certain sections of industry about it and not being an issue, we’re not to make any progress here.’
Alongside Ms Hall at the VFF conference panel, Shearer-Woolhandler Training executive officer Glenn Haynes said apart from wool, other livestock sales were impacted by the growing market demand for traceability.
“The buyers look (at sheep without RWS certification), they want it, they want that product, but they can’t buy it because they can’t onsell it to their consumers,” he said.
“(Buyers) need to have the traceability, the sustainability — animal welfare proof — for those brands to actually onsell it.”
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