Wool: Extraction

Fine Merino versus coarse crossbred: where each grows

Wool is grown, not mined: most sheep are shorn once a year. Fine Merino wool for apparel comes mostly from dry pastures in Australia, South Africa and South America; coarser crossbred wool from New Zealand and the United Kingdom goes largely into carpets. Greasy fleece is classed by fibre diameter, length and strength. Scouring removes grease, dirt and vegetable matter, and the grease yields lanolin. Clean wool is carded, combed into tops and spun. Meat and wool are joint products of the same flock.

Wool is a by-product of sheep farming in two quite different systems. Australia, South Africa, Uruguay and Argentina run Merino flocks on large dry pastures mainly for fine apparel wool. New Zealand, the UK and much of Europe run crossbred sheep mainly for meat, with coarser wool for carpets and knitwear. China, India, Central Asia and the Middle East have large pastoral flocks producing mostly coarse wool. After shearing, wool must be scoured, combed and spun, and most of that processing now takes place in China. Because supply depends on flock sizes, which react to drought and to meat prices as well as wool prices, output adjusts slowly.

Methods compared

How each method works

Large flocks graze dry rangeland and improved pasture. Wool is shorn, classed and sold through brokers at auction. Drought and the relative profit of meat and grain decide flock size. Australia's clip has fallen sharply since the 1990 peak as farmers shifted to crops and meat sheep.

Finest, most valuable wool, but supply is shrinking and the clip fell again in 2025-26 (AWTA test volumes down 10.4% in Jul-Nov 2025, AWI).

Sheep are bred mainly for lamb; their coarser, stronger wool goes to carpets, upholstery and knitwear. Low wool prices mean the clip often barely covers shearing costs.

Large volumes of durable wool, but carpets have lost ground to synthetics.

Herders and smallholders keep sheep on common grazing, often migrating seasonally. Most Indian wool is coarse carpet grade from breeds such as Chokla and Marwari in Rajasthan. India's output has fallen as sheep are kept for meat.

Large flocks and low cost, but mostly coarse wool that cannot replace Merino for apparel.

Greasy wool is washed in hot water and detergent to recover lanolin, carded, then combed into tops for worsted spinning. China imports most of the world's greasy wool for this. India imports Australian and New Zealand wool for its worsted and carpet mills.

Adds most of the value, but scouring needs water treatment and is concentrated in China.

Who does it: global

Who does it: India

India produced 34.6 million kg of mostly coarse wool in 2024-25, down from 50.5 million kg in 2002-03 (DAHD via Dataful), and imported 102 kt of greasy wool worth $202 million in 2024, 7.3% of world import value (UN Comtrade). Apparel mills rely on imported Merino; carpet makers in Bhadohi use domestic and New Zealand wool.