Wool report: Market a 'game of two halves'

PGG Wrightson's GM for Wool Grant Edwards. Photo / Supplied

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This week The Country's Jamie Mackay is joined by PGG Wrightson's GM for wool, Grant Edwards, to take a look at the wool market this month.

Mackay described the market as a "game of two halves".

Edwards agreed and explained that this was due to the great performance of fine wool (such as Merino), which was at the peak of its selling season.

In comparison, the crossbred wool market had seen some decline.

Edwards said a portion of this decline was driven by the lack of demand from the international market, in particular China.

Meanwhile, shipping costs continued to be a disadvantage for the wool industry.

Mackay said that a kilo of wool took up more space than a kilo of meat, and it was only worth a fifth of the value.

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Edwards explained that a packed container from China to Europe (pre-Covid) cost around US$2000 per container.

This cost had now increased to around US$10,000+ USD per container.

Mackay moved on to worker shortages and the search for people to shear New Zealand's 30 million sheep this season.

Edwards agreed and noted that this was also across other industries such as horticulture.

However, it was great to see the New Zealand Merino Shears were going ahead in Alexandra, followed by the Waimate Shears - despite New Zealand's alert levels and the cancellation of local A&P shows, Mackay said.