The auction system has been the prime method of ownership transfer and price discovery in Australia for about 130 years But now wool exporters in northern New South Wales want industry to rethinks how the fibre is sold, as wool is taking up less than two percent of global apparel consumption.
Fox and Lilley Rural managing director Jonathon Lilley said that the auction system treated the fibre as a commodity but it might be time to embrace a more boutique selling format. As changing the selling method of wool may bring in change buyers’ perception of the product and the prices processors were willing to pay.
Wool is going to become a niche product with current production levels at 328 million kilos and where it sits as a percentage of the international textile market.
The company now buys a lot of wool directly from farmers, it by-passes the auction, sale by negotiation, there’s room for that to get bigger in Australia.
The attributes for the wool can be looked at and hopefully factored in to the price they get for that as opposed to the auction commodity type selling.
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