High microns deliver low returns for sheep producers

There is little joy in sight for crossbred wool producers if the discussion at a recent world wool conference is any guide.

Languishing coarse wool prices of less than 300c/kg could encourage more producers to turn away from crossbred sheep.

And delegates at last week’s International Wool Textile Organisation meeting in Japan were told coarse wool in the United Kingdom was making as little as 5c/kg.

WoolProducers Australia president Steve Harrison said Australia grew just 8-10 per cent of the world’s coarse wool clip and other countries like the UK were reporting low prices.

“Coarse wool is now cheaper than polyester,” Mr Harrison said.

“Synthetics dye more easily and there is no contamination and it works out cheaper than using wool.”

Mr Harrison, who attended the IWTO forum, said the was no upside in the short term for coarse wool prices.

Last week, 28-micron wool fleece lines lost 20c/kg to make 325c/kg; 30-micron lines shed 6c/kg to close at 297c/kg and 32-micron wool averaged just 238c/kg.

Yet figures from the Australian Wool Exchange show in the past four weeks, just 8.9 per cent of fleece wool coarser than 26 micron has been passed in, compared to 16.5 per cent for 26 micron and finer.

And while the Australian coarse wool prices were not covering the costs of shearing, Mr Harrison said UK producers were using fleeces for livestock bedding because “it was cheaper than straw”.

Fox and Lillie Rural Corowa and districts area manager Jenni Turner it was “extremely challenging to buy or broker coarse wool at these levels for all parties”.

Ms Turner said there were still reasonable returns for growers of crossbred wools in the 24-26 micron range, but the push by the sheep industry to include breeds with coarse, medullated or dark fibres had pushed microns out and decreased quality.

With shearing costs increasing, and lamb prices decreasing, Ms Turner said growers had now become “starkly aware” of the importance of wool returns even if they were primarily prime lamb breeders.

Lambpro director Tom Bull from Holbrook, NSW, said crossbred wool had always been a low percentage of the value of production from the animal but had been diminishing over time.

“My view is that high-end lamb has a significant opportunity and is delivering some good returns and wool is something we just don’t need,” Mr Bull said.