Wool industry bleeds over R700m
SOUTH AFRICA - China’s now four-month ban on (SA’s) wool has cost growers in the country R734 million. The ban spells trouble for the 40 000 workers, sheep shearers, and wool handlers who recently survived an extended drought. About 40 000 wool producers market around six million kilograms of wool to China. Industry organisations are calling on Agricultural and Trade ministries to negotiate with China to regain access to that market. Up to 80 per cent of South Africa’s clip is destined for China, making the country its biggest customer. SA wool sector has lost as much as R734 million since its biggest customer, China, instituted an import ban on cloven-hoofed animals and related products, following the country’s foot and mouth disease outbreaks. The now four-month ban, instated on April 1 2022, coincides with the first wool auction for the industry’s 2022/2023 season, meant to take place on 17 August.
Consequences
The National Wool Growers Association (NWGA) had said that the ban would have dire consequences for SA’s wool industry, which produced clip worth R5 billion annually. China is by far South Africa’s biggest wool trade partner, with between 70 per cent to 80 per cent of the country’s clip destined for the country. No outbreaks had been reported in any recognised wool-producing area in South Africa, NWGA said. “Though wool sheep are, like all cloven-hoofed animals, susceptible to be infected by FMD, no outbreaks have been recorded in recognised wool producing areas nor have any small stock been diagnosed with FMD,” it said in a joint statement with Agri SA. The association said the ban was both unjustifiable and unwarranted because SA’s protocols for regulating wool storage after shearing align with the terrestrial code of the World Organisation of Animal Health. The code, negotiated with Chinese authorities in 2019 to limit disruptions, specifies time frames and minimum temperatures at which wool should be stored. The industry is calling for the intervention of the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, and the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ebrahim Patel, to help it regain access to the Chinese market with the first wool auction date fast approaching.
The ban came just as the industry was recovering from an extended period of drought and a prolonged ban spells trouble for many commercial wool producers who might be unable to survive the ripple effects. Not only was the ban putting a dent in the industry’s revenues, but it would also devastate the sector’s small scale producers and 35 000 workers and 4 500 seasonal sheep shearers and wool handlers.