AU Topmaking Plant Closing
August 2005 -- Australia?s largest wool-topmaking plant closed its doors at the end of July.
Elders, the owner of Australian Topmaking Services, will move all of its topmaking operations offshore. The general manager of wool with Elders says topmaking is no longer economically viable in Australia.
In the last five years, the number of combing mills in Australia has gone from nine to two, largely due to their biggest customer, China, who switched to combing at home instead of buying tops from Australia, reported The Wool Record Weekly.
Advanced Wool-Marketing System Launched
Australian company Platinum Agribusiness has launched the Minimum Price Scheme for wool after an extensive program of product development, reported Guyra Argus, Australia.
?The Minimum Price Scheme is a product that suits the current market environment ? where producers are not happy with wool prices but where market intelligence suggests there is still a real chance they could fall even further,? comments Bill Mitchell, director of Platinum.
Participating growers receive a minimum price for quantity and micron category of their choice. Wool can be delivered at any time within a nominated period and the final price will be based on either the minimum or the market at the time of delivery ? whichever is higher.
?The scheme is designed to be simple and to suit a wide-range of wool growers. It shows how modern techniques can be used to create down-to-earth products with the kind of value for growers that had come to be considered a thing of the past,? concludes Mitchell.
Full article from Guyra Argus, Australia
Wool Production Down Slightly in Australia
The Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) is predicting shorn-wool production will be lower in the 2005-2006 season despite rainfall across many drought-stricken areas in June.
AWI estimates wool production will tip out at 470 million kilograms, down 1 percent from last season.
?In all states except Western Australia, average fleece weights for the season are expected to be marginally lower than in the 2004-2005 season,? comments David James, AWI chairman.