Scoured Wool Production: Trends and Geographic Shifts in Location
November 4, 2005
November 4, 2005 -- During the last 15 years, there has been a considerable shift in industry relocation and rationalization within the world's scouring industry.
Whereas New Zealand and Russia were the major producing countries of scoured wool in 1990, China had overtaken both countries by 1995. During this period, China expanded both domestic raw-wool production and the import of greasy wool and has since maintained its position as the world's leading producer of scoured wool. China's share of the world's scoured wool production is now estimated at 33 percent, compared with a 20 percent share in 1995.
Apart from China, India is one of the very few countries which have seen an increase in scoured-wool output, mainly from the rise in imported greasy apparel wool but also from additional supplies of imported carpet-wool types.
Despite changes in the world's wool processing industry, New Zealand (which predominantly scours carpet-wool types) has maintained its share of world scoured-wool production at around 11 percent over the last 15 years. New Zealand is the world's second largest producer after China. Australia currently remains the world's third largest scoured-wool producer, but may be overtaken by India during the next five years at the current rate of change.
As for other major processing countries like Japan, Korea and Malaysia, these have ceased or almost ceased scoured-wool production entirely. The United States, once a significant scoured-wool producer, currently scours a small amount of wool.
The estimated amount of wool scoured world-wide, which is suitable for apparel and non-apparel end-uses, rose by 4 percent in 2004 after a three-year decline. Output for 2005 is estimated to show a marginal increase, mainly due to a small rise in forecasted scoured-wool production in China, Argentina and New Zealand.
The long-term decline in scoured-wool production seen from 1990 has mainly been the result of much lower supplies of raw apparel-type wool. The production of such wool declined nearly 50 percent between 1990 and 2004, including a period of considerable greasy wool stock building.
Reprinted in part from Woolmark Company