Nanshan's high hopes for wool

Mr Pan, who spoke to a delegation of woolgrowers as part of the 2014 Elders China Wool Tour earlier this month, said at Nanshan they were full of confidence when it came to the wool industry.

"I have spent 30-years in the wool industry," he said.

"I have worked with all of the textile fibres but wool stands out as it is a highly natural product.

"For the past 20 to 40 years wool has always been a standout product.

"Now as we head towards a younger and more fashionable market it continues to attract interest."

Nanshan had worked closely with the Chinese branch of Australian Wool Innovation in recent years to try and match wool with more casual product usage.

"We are working on styles and uses to make wool soft and more comfortable and good handling," Mr Pan said.

AWI had established a new research centre in Nanshan, to research new products and future trends for woollen textiles.

Projects included the development of new technologies to explore ways in which wool could be worn, by stretching the fibre and reducing micron by 2-3M so the end product was more lustrous, soft and shiny.

"CSIRO has stopped funding research and I'm hoping some of their concepts and research will be able to be continued in Nanshan," Mr Pan said.

"I'm not only head of the textile centre at Nanshan but also master of the textile institute in Nanshan and I realise and believe in wool as a product.

"I want to be able to educate the younger generation that wool is a great product."

As such a similar style of course to the former Deakin University specialist wool course would soon be established in the town.

"I hope to work with AWI to establish a new wool course in Nanshan, educating students on greasy wool to the finished end product," Mr Pan said.

"The future is in practical application, research and education.

"In the future there could be a million other fibres but wool will always be the one that continues to stand out."

Another partnership had also been set up between Nanshan and a Hong Kong university investigating the ways in which wool could be used for sporting clothes.

Mr Pan, who met with Prime Minister Tony Abbott on April 11, said in the past 10 to 15 years a 1000 other mills had used man-made fibres that were "hot on the market" but these products only lasted five-years before they had to be thrown out.

"They are just not the same as wool," he said.

"Wool is a natural product. These synthetic products are not. They are not breathable, but wool is.

"Wool is comfortable.

"More people are coming back to using natural fibres."

Nanshan bought and processed 7000 tonnes cleanweight of Australian wool a year, the equivalent of about 65,000 bales of wool/year, 17 micron to 19M.

While woollen textiles remained a small part of their manufacturing empire, aluminium was the number one industry in the town, about 1500 kilometres from Shanghai.

The town employed 8000 people, 20 per cent of whom worked in textiles.

In the past decade Nanshan had continued to invest in world-leading technology, with their dyeing work shop now using "the best" technology to ensure products were continually produced to a very high standard.

"We are using more computer controls as we go along," Mr Pan said.

"From 20 years ago technology has come along way but I don't believe machines will ever completely take over.

"A skilled workforce will always be required."

Half of Nanshan's finished garments were sold in the domestic market in high end retail stores and half exported overseas to countries such as Japan, the United States and Europe.

A FORMER partnership with Elders led to the establishment of an Australian wool processing plant being shifted to the town of Nanshan, China, which continues to this day.

The Yantai BWK Elders (YBE) factory, was a joint venture with Nanshan from the mid 2000s, processing greasy wool and wool tops.

During a period of rationalisation, a wool tops combing plant in Germany, then Parkes, NSW and Geelong, Victoria, closed, with the entire Geelong plant being moved to its Nanshan site in a 50:50 deal between Nanshan and Elders in 2007.

Elders then sold its share in the YBE plant in 2010.

Costs in Australia made it prohibitive to process wool, with it costing $1 a kilogram for labour in Australia but only 10 cents/kg in China.

This became a problem especially when the Australian dollar rose and reached parity with the United States, making it uneconomical to process wool in Australia.

The YBE combing factory combs wool tops for the company's own use, and limited use for others.

They also have a state-of-the-art dyeing facility with computerised colour matching and automated systems.

"It is important to get the dyeing facility right as customers are very particular about the quality and colour of garments," Mr Pan said.

"We have invested a huge amount of money and are building a reputation as one of the best in the business."

The spinning factory, which comprised all German technology, was considered the best in the world, and processed 134 tonnes cleanweight of wool a week, equivalent to 20tcw/day or about 200 bales of greasy wool/day.

The weaving factory was all European machinery with a large variety of finishing capabilities and numerous controls along the process to ensure high quality fabric and garments.

The garment making factory produced clothing to sell in high end fashion retail stores domestically or were under license to produce items for major brands across the world, such as the Hilton brand found in Australia or several British fashion labels.

Miranda Kenny travelled to China courtesy of Elders as part of the 2014 Elders China Wool Tour. Visit www.stockjournal.com.au for more stories from her trip.