Wool prices suffered a considerable tumble during September in line with the bearish market for commodities as a result of global economic uncertainty, although values are still considerably higher than a year ago.
Uruguay’s textile industry is short of wool and could be forced to import up to 20 million kilos, revealed Uruguayan Wool Secretariat (SUL) CEO Gabriel Capurro during the opening of an ovine industry seminar, organized by the country’s Corriedale breeders association.
China’s Vice-president Xi Jinping and tipped as a leading candidate to succeed President Hu Jintao will be visiting Uruguay June 7 to 9 as part of a tour that includes Italy, Cuba and Chile.
A bail of Uruguayan fine, clean wool, 14.4 microns, was sold at a record price of 37.76 a kilo. The ultra fine wool, (uncommon for Uruguay that has a flock mostly of Corriedale), was achieved based on a strategic alliance between the Merino breeders, the country’s Agriculture Research Institute, the textile industry and 51 farmers that signed in for the project.
Uruguay’s wool clip is forecasted to drop 20% in 2010/11 because of a fall in the number of sheep and extreme weather conditions that will represent a loss of almost a kilo of wool per head, according to Alvaro Fossati, president of a sheep farmers association.