Australian wool brokers, exporters and body assess market future

These are the conversations happening at Melbourne's wool selling centre, Brooklyn, as the Australian wool market returns from its annual three-week winter recess this week.

G Schneider Australia wool exporter Mark Symes said sustainability and traceability were trends that had grown "aggressively" in the past five to 10 years.

"Old dinosaurs like us are trying to keep in touch with it, but the next generation are the ones that have learnt about it and are really living it and taking it to another dimension, which is good," he said.

"We're heavily focused on sustainability and traceability from the actual wool once the wool is harvested, and then sent into woolstores.

"It's a message that's coming from the brands themselves, very strongly throughout Europe because they're dealing in the high-quality, high-fashion end, that's where our signals are coming from."

Fox & Lillie national wool brokerage manager Eamon Timms said demand signals hadn't changed significantly, but processors had reported customers were making smaller but more regular orders.

Mr Timms said he had seen an increase in Australian farmers taking their wool through to yarn and creating knitwear ranges.

"Certainly when you look at marketing, the provenance story really does resonate with people," he said.

"For those who want to process their own wool or utilise wool from farming to knitwear it tells a very powerful narrative.

"And if they're able to utilise that then it's good for the consumer and good for them."

Mr Timms said the natural attributes of wool allowed for a strong case that wool could be very much in demand in the next five to 10 years.

"Certainly when you look at issues like the microplastics that are involved with synthetic clothing, wool obviously has very, very strong credentials in this regard on top of its natural performance characteristics that it inherently does have," he said.

"These factors certainly will bode well for wool's ongoing success, and once we pass through these times that are somewhat challenging."

Mr Symes said he believed the trends were filtering through China, which purchased 80 per cent of Australia's wool.

"I think they're trying to match the quality of the Europeans on a world stage," he said.

"I think that time is coming very close where the industry will be divided [between wool and meat], and I think people choosing the meat path will have wool as a byproduct."

Nutrien Victorian wool brokerage lead Stewart Raine said it was vital for the Australian wool industry to correctly articulate wool's "compelling story".

He said Chinese consumers were seemingly buying less products - wool and others - and brokers were "eagerly waiting" for it to rebalance itself as processors continued to support Victorian woolgrowers.

"We're seeing our traditional largest buyer of wool China continue to be dominant in the market buying around 82pc of the national clip," he said.

"We need to be the storytellers and correctly articulate that story through the supply chain, and right through to any consumer."

He said he identified industry challenges as land competition, but he had no key concerns for wool's future.

"The industry is well placed for the future," he said.

"It's a natural fibre, it's sustainable, it's biodegradable; all these wonderful attributes of the wool fibre set us in good stead for the future.

"As long as the Australian wool industry is able to correctly articulate all these wonderful attributes, and educate not only the current consumer, but the next generation of consumers of our fibre, I believe we will be in good shape."

Australian Wool Innovation chief executive John Roberts said the body was "very optimistic" about the wool market's future and saw a more pronounced interest in the fibre, farm and natural capital.

He said he believed wool growing would be viewed as a holistic solution to reducing fashion's impact during the next five years.

"We need more mass-consumer consciousness about the impact of different fabrics, which is a key focus of our marketing strategy," he said.

"We also need the wool industry to embrace data and reporting to maintain market access."

Mr Roberts said Europe and the US were developing legislation to ensure traceability would be a standard for fashion businesses, and the industry needed to be ready to meet market expectations.

He said farming challenges included competing land use and shearing, but ongoing investments showed "real promise".

"We see many reports stating consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable products, however, they are balancing this with a very immediate cost of living crisis so demand for everything is down," he said.

"Indifference to fabrics means Australian wool cannot have a credible point of difference.

"For instance, we know that many consumers don't make the connection between synthetic fibres - such as polyester or acrylic - and fossil fuel - plastic and oil."

The Textile Exchange recorded the global clean wool production for Australia in 2021 sat at 22pc or 227,960 tonnes, while greasy wool production was at 2.92pc.

Meanwhile, synthetic fibres' global production sat at 113 million tonnes in 2021.

Mr Roberts said they were most concerned about consumer education, and a lack of knowledge on fabric impacts.

"Consumers are demanding businesses take a responsible approach to production which is driving the brand interest in traceability," he said.

"This is why consumer education is vitally important so we can effectively communicate the natural benefits and positive impacts of Australian wool."