Wool gathering to resume confirms marketing body
Farming organisations have welcomed the news that, despite the complications of the Covid pandemic, the British Wool Marketing Board would continue to collect and intake this year’s wool crop,
However, less welcome was the revelation that the coronavirus crisis had led to the collapse and closure of the global market for wool – with the consequence that the UK now has treble the normal amount of the fibre backed up in store.
Speaking yesterday, Joe Farren, the marketing board’s chief executive, said that despite the challenges facing the wool sector and the economy as a whole, the organisation’s depots and head office were operating with additional safeguards.
“As we head towards the shearing season, British Wool’s network of depots and collection sites are ready to start receiving wool from producers – which, given the circumstances is quite an achievement,” he said.
“Following government guidance relating to Covid-19, protocols are in place to ensure the safety of producers as well as British Wool staff.”
However, he admitted that the pandemic had struck the wool market both early and hard, with reduced demand from the crucial Chinese market in January.
“The global cross-bred wool market slowed significantly in February and then shut completely at the beginning of March and remains closed,” said Farren.
“February to May is normally the busiest selling period of the year and, as a result, British Wool has circa seven million kgs extra of unsold 2019 clip wool on top of the circa three million kgs that we would normally be carrying at this time of year.”
He added that New Zealand wool agents and auction bodies were also carrying significant unsold stock – and he conceded that the outlook for this year’s crop was not good.
“The severe, hopefully short term, drop in demand for wool products coupled with the huge global overhang in cross bred wool stocks from the 2019 season is likely to severely impact prices for the next 12-18 months,” he said.
He added that it would also make the board’s longer term objective of repositioning British Wool as a premium product more challenging.
“However, finding new demand for our wool in China at attractive prices will be a key driver of the early stages of recovery in British Wool prices,” he said.
“We must be more determined than ever in this objective.”
The National Sheep Association welcomed the confirmation that wool would still be collected by or delivered to depots
However, the NSA’S chief executive, Phil Stocker, said the news of the ten million kgs carryover – nearly a third of British Wools annual clip – was less welcome.
Recognising that the UK was not alone in this situation, he said: “Fortunately, most British sheep farmers are used to wool covering shearing and handling costs and often not a lot more, with few farmers relying on wool values for a living.”
● Earlier this month Dumfriesshire farmer Jim Robertson was elected as British Wool’s new chairman, having been the regional board member for the Scottish couthern region since 2017 and vice-chairman of the board since 2018.