Argentina Wool Buyers Visit U.S.

September 15, 2005

By Barry Savage

September 2005 - In June, American Sheep Industry Association (ASI) continued its highly successful program of bringing overseas buyers to the United States to learn about the types of wool available in the United States and to purchase U.S. wool for trial in their mills. In addition to the Indian mill that visited in June (see the August issue of Sheep Industry News), ASI hosted two wool buyers from Lanera Austral, Argentina, President Juan Pablo Lefebvre and Head Wool Buyer Stephen Garrard.

The first visit from representatives of Lanera Austral to the United States on a wool-buying mission under the ASI program was in 2004. They were the first to purchase and ship U.S. wool to Argentina in recent years, if not the first ever. Consequently, ASI assisted them and the two U.S. suppliers involved in working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and their Argentine counterparts to design and set-up the necessary documentation to allow these first shipments to be imported into Argentina.

Overall, Austral was very pleased with the results obtained in 2004 and returned in 2005 to continue the development of the United States as a source for greasy wool for their mill.

?With the success of last year?s trials, we are keen to broaden the range of types of U.S. wool that we can potentially use in our mill, and we are appreciative of the assistance of ASI to help us to do this,? says Lefebvre.

This program is a part of the overall ASI international marketing program that includes:

Bringing overseas buyers to the United States to visit suppliers and warehouses to learn about U.S. wool, and develop confidence and relationships that result in these mills including U.S. wool as an important source of raw material.
Trade missions of U.S. wool suppliers to key international markets to learn about the requirements of the key mills around the world and the diverse environments in which they operate.
Technical and other assistance to these international mills to ensure they obtain the best results possible from U.S. wool processed in their mill.

? Although the domestic-textile industry is important, it has continued to contract and our international programs are an important part of ASI?s strategy in developing competition and ensuring that U.S. wool growers obtain the best possible price for their wool by having access to all potential markets,? comments Rita Kourlis Samuelson, ASI deputy director of operations and wool marketing director.

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