Ulster Wool open for wool receipts as usual

Ulster Wool’s depot and network of collection sites are ready to start receiving wool from producers. Following Government guidance relating to Covid-19, protocols are in place to ensure the safety of producers as well as Ulster Wool staff.

However, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the global wool market which affected Ulster Wool before the rest of the UK due to the reduced demand from the Chinese market in January. The global cross bred wool market slowed significantly in February and then shut completely at the beginning of March and remains closed. February to May is normally the busiest selling period of the year and, as a result, there is circa 7m kgs extra of unsold 2019 clip wool on top of the circa 3m kgs that we would normally be carrying at this time of year. The market obviously closed in New Zealand at the same time meaning that New Zealand wool agents and auctions will also be carrying significant unsold stock.

Joe said: “The severe, hopefully short term, drop in demand for wool products coupled with the huge global overhang in cross bred wool stocks from the 2019 season is likely to severely impact prices for the next 12-18 months. It will also make our longer term objective of repositioning our wool as a premium product more challenging.

“However, finding new demand for our wool in China at attractive prices will be a key driver of the early stages of recovery in Ulster Wool prices. We must be more determined than ever in this objective.”