Wool price surges due to China-led demand
WOOL prices are booming across the globe and Queensland is posed to reap the benefits as a Chinese appetite for our fleece helps double prices over the past decade.
David Henderson, the Adelaide-based representative for marketer “Quality Wool,’’ sees wool as one of the most positive stories in Australia’s agricultural resurgence.
With prices breaking through the $20 a kilogram barrier, drought is the only real drawback on the state experiencing a 21st Century version of those golden years when the economy rode on the sheep’s back.
Queensland graziers, who walked away from wool in the 1970s and 1980s because of low prices, and the wild dog problem, are also being enticed back into the industry by the state and federal-backed dog fence being established in clusters throughout western Queensland.
Over the past few years the state has contributed more than $12 million to the wild dog exclusion fence while the federal government has poured in around $12 million.
“Even with the drought and the dog problem, which is being addressed in Queensland, the wool story is a fantastic story,’’ Mr Henderson said.