Young woolgrowers from across Australia have returned from a tour of China with a global perspective of their industry.
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The group visited China's biggest manufacturers of raw wool and gained a greater understanding of the journey Australian wool takes once exported. The self-funded trip organised by Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) involved 12 young people who visited a number of manufacturers within the trade and meet with key AWI/Woolmark staff based in Asia.
Close to 80 per cent of Australia's raw wool production is exported to China for early stage processing. Half of this wool is consumed in China at retail, making the Chinese wool processing and retail economy extremely important to Australia's $3.6 billion wool industry.
The first manufacturer the group visited was an early stage processing operation, Red Sun. Here raw wool is scoured and carded through an automated operation. The group then visited the spinning processing plant To Xinao, where the AWI/Woolmark-Xinao Development Centre is located, encouraging innovation in knitwear. The group also visited the circular knitting mill Mengdi and well-known fully vertically integrated fabric processing operation Nanshan.
Bea Litchefield, from Hazeldeen in Cooma said, "the extent to which the Chinese are investing into the wool processing industry is huge. 130,000 people are employed by Nanshan and they are processing seven thousand tons of clean wool - their operation is massive."
The group also visited the AWI Shanghai office and The Woolmark Wool Resource Centre in Hong Kong.
After visiting The Woolmark Resource Centre, Brent Flood, Stud Manager at Banavie Merino Stud in Victoria said, "as an Australian Merino industry we only make up 0.3 per cent of the global textile market, which throws up some challenges but also opportunities for Woolmark's marketing and Woolmark is certainly offering solutions to those challenges. I can't come away happier knowing that Woolmark are marketing our fibre."
Encouraging the next generation within the wool industry is critical for its ongoing development. AWI engages with young people through educational and career initiatives such as Breeding Leadership, the National Merino Challenge, Hay Inc, the AWI Graduate Program and sheep classing workshops.
The 2018 young woolgrower China Tour participants were:
Nicholas Weeding
Felicity Brumpton
Alexander Lewis
Jackie Chapman
Andrew Rintoul
Beatrice Litchfield
Thomas Perkins
Amy MacIntosh
William MacAlpine
Edith Gregory
Brent Flood
Floyd Legge
