Wool: Characteristics
Why a few microns can multiply the price
What this tab covers The supply and physical characteristics of the commodity. Supply: current production, inventories and stocks, capacity utilisation, geographic and producer concentration, how fast supply responds to price, the project pipeline and capital spending, and logistics and export flows. Material: the physical and chemical properties that set its grade, price and end uses (for example purity and conductivity for metals, API gravity, sulfur and energy content for fuels, moisture, protein and fibre quality for crops).Supply volume characteristics
| Characteristic | Figure | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current production volume | 1.70 Mt of greasy wool (2024) | Output has halved from 3.35 Mt in 1990 as synthetics took over and farmers moved to meat sheep and crops. Australia's clip fell from 1,102 kt to 281 kt over the same period. | FAOSTAT 1990-2024 |
| Inventory and stock levels | not published; no public stocks | Stocks are commercial, held by brokers, exporters and Chinese processors. Australia's Reserve Price Scheme built a stockpile of several million bales before it collapsed in 1991; it took about a decade to sell. India has no wool buffer. | content_v2 wool stocks |
| Capacity utilisation | not published | Scouring and topmaking utilisation in China is not reported. The weekly AWEX offering is the best supply proxy: 25,021 bales in the first week of September 2026. | AWI, Sep 2026 |
| Geographic and producer concentration | China 21.5%, top-3 (China, Australia, New Zealand) 45.4%, HHI 916; exports: Australia 65.9% of greasy wool value | Production is unconcentrated, but fine apparel wool and exports are dominated by Australia, and processing by China (73.4% of greasy wool imports). Company shares are not published. | FAOSTAT 2024; UN Comtrade 2024 |
| Supply elasticity | medium: flock sizes adjust over 1-3 years | Farmers can keep or sell sheep within a season, and Radetzki and Warell note wool supply responds fairly quickly to price. Rebuilding a flock after drought takes years, and meat prices often matter more than wool prices. | Radetzki & Warell; content_v2 wool methods |
| Project pipeline and CapEx | no expansion pipeline; the clip is shrinking | Australian and New Zealand flocks continue to shift to meat breeds. Prices recovered in 2025-26 as supply fell: the Eastern Market Indicator rose from about 1,541 to 1,890 Australian cents per kg clean between December 2025 and September 2026. | AWI Market Intelligence, Dec 2025 and Sep 2026 |
| Logistics and export flows | China imported 321 kt and India 102 kt of greasy wool (2024); world exports worth $2.7 billion | Greasy wool ships in dumped bales in containers from Fremantle, Melbourne, Sydney, Napier and Gqeberha to Chinese ports and to India. Dependence on one processing country is the main concentration risk. | UN Comtrade 2024 |
Material characteristics Agricultural / soft commodity
Wool is priced mainly on fibre diameter (micron): finer wool makes softer, lighter fabric and fetches far higher prices. Yield (clean wool as a share of greasy weight), staple length and strength, and vegetable matter set processing cost. Wool's crimp, moisture absorption, warmth and natural flame resistance set its end uses.
| Property | Value / specification | Why it matters | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fibre diameter | Merino roughly 17-24 micron; crossbred roughly 28-40 micron | The single biggest price driver: superfine wool for suits, coarse wool for carpets | AWEX / AWTA classing (indicative) |
| Yield (clean wool) | Merino typically about 60-75% of greasy weight | Buyers pay on a clean basis, so yield converts greasy price to clean cost | AWTA test certificates (indicative) |
| Staple length and strength | length roughly 70-100 mm; strength above about 35 N/ktex is sound | Weak or short wool breaks in combing and lowers top yield | AWTA (indicative) |
| Vegetable matter | % VM measured by AWTA; low VM below about 1% | Burrs and seeds must be removed by carbonising or combing, adding cost | AWTA (indicative) |
| Moisture regain | commercial regain about 17% for scoured wool and 18.25% for tops | Trade weights are corrected to a standard regain so buyers do not pay for water | IWTO standards (indicative) |
| Comfort factor | share of fibres below 30 micron, about 95% or more for next-to-skin wear | Coarse fibre ends cause prickle | IWTO / AWI (indicative) |