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China’s ban on the import of greasy wool from the Republic of South Africa has been lifted with immediate effect. This has been verbally conveyed to Cape Wools SA through Department of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) and the announcement has been posted on the official General Administration of Customs China (GACC) website. According to Deon Saayman, CEO of Cape Wools SA, the industry is especially relieved that it has been lifted without the imposition of any additional conditions. This means the health certificate they have been using since 2019 is unchanged.
“After months of negotiation, we at Cape Wools would, on behalf of the wool industry, like to extend our sincere appreciation to DALRRD, Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco), the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) and the ministers of both agriculture and trade and industry for their support and assistance. The unexpected ban that was implemented in April this year has been a cause for deep concern. We are very grateful to put this behind us and look forward to business as usual.”
Disappointing performance during first wool auction
After a two-month recess in wool sales, the 2022/23 wool season kicked off on 17 August 2022 with an offering of 8 348 bales. Due to the greasy wool export ban imposed by China, 4 528 bales were withdrawn prior to the sale, with a satisfactory overall sales clearance of 80,6% of the bales offered.
Read more about the origin of the ban here.
The market saw an encouraging performance, but still struggled to deliver positive results, even with a weaker rand. The bulk of the offering consisted of fine micron, longer length wools, with sustainably certified wools comprising 68,8% of the Merino wools on offer.
Compared to the closing sale of the 2021/22 season, non-Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) wools declined by 5,9% to close at R155,12/kg and RWS wools decreased by 4,9% to close at R171,18/kg.
New England Wool has been changed to its new trading name and their purchases will be reflected as VBC Wool SA from now on.
The Australian market closed unchanged in Australian dollar terms this week from their previous sale held on Thursday, 11 August, albeit at lower levels than the last reported sale on 8 June.
The major buyers on this week’s sale were: Modiano SA (2 338), Lempriere SA (1 607), Standard Wool SA (1 314) and Segard Masurel SA (453). The next auction is scheduled for 24 August 2022. – Cape Wools SA
