North Island wool fetches highest price in three decades at Napier auction

4:55 pm today

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North Island wool has fetched its highest price in over three decades at an auction in Napier this week.

The Romney wool came from a farm in Tikokino and was sold for $6.07 a kilogram by Kells Wool, the only remaining broker in Hawke's Bay.

Higher demand for wool is being driven by several factors, including the rising cost of petrochemical-derived synthetics due to the oil crisis stemming from the conflict in Iran.

Earlier this month, prices reached a 15-year high in Christchurch at the latest PGG Wrightson wool auction, ranging between $6.47 to $6.80 a kilogram for crossbred fleeces, with some of those best presented and showing good colour breaking through $7.

In Napier at the Hawke's Bay Club, Kells Wool held its monthly auction on Tuesday and prices climbed to heights not seen since the late 1980's. For auctioneer Kim Alquist, it was an exciting result.

"It's really, really pleasing - five to 10 cents dearer and lots of animated bidding so it was really cool. That's the highest we've had in decades. It's absolutely fantastic, and we got two lots over $6 which is a great milestone.

"It was high yielding at 83 percent yeild and for that length of wool you tend to get more colour, but that wasn't too bad. That farmer will be pretty excited I think," he said.

Auctioneer Kim Alquist.

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In the thick of the action is Ken Tunnicliff, who owns Ascot Wools and has been in the game for 55 years.

"People argue that 'oh we can sell wool this way and that way', but at the end of the day you put it on auction like today... I mean I've paid more money than I'd like to have, and that's because we're in this situation and at end of it we know exactly what we've bought," Tunnicliff said.

Wool prices have struggled for years due to weakening demand, dipping below $2 kg and making it hard for farmers to cover the costs of shearing and transport, especially as both continue to rise.

However, confidence in the sector is finally rebounding and Kells Wool owner Richard Kells told RNZ that reaching $6.07 a kilogram in his auction this week was significant.

"This was as good as I had hoped. It could carry on going up for a while yet as far as I'm concerned.

"We can expect years of good prices ahead of us after surviving this decade of depression," Kells said.

Richard Kells.

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Kells is the only wool broker left in Hawke's Bay, following the move of big players like PGG Wrightson to Christchurch. The stalwart said his decision to stay put in Napier wasn't a hard one.

"It was just a gradual process of understanding that the buyers wanted to be able to still buy wool here and really it's made my job simpler.

"I don't relish the idea of having to freight everything down and deal with ferry cancellations and things like that. It's actually working out much simpler to stay here and the buyers are showing their full support," Kells said.

Photo: Supplied

Kells Wool rep Jess Williams said with higher prices being seen nationwide, the mood has really lifted on farm.

"We've been through the tough of it... A farmer reminded me the other day it was not too long ago that I was calling out 89 cents for his mainline and could not sell it for under a dollar - to be able to call him and say his wool was now worth $5.36 is amazing," she said.

Kells Wool is hoping wool prices don't stall, as Richard Kells said farmers need to be getting better returns.

"The sustainable fibre needs a sustainable price and we're probably a wee way away from what a real sustainable price is.

"It's got to be getting $10 clean to put it in the same level as all the other proteins that farmers can produce such as milk and meat, being a protein fibre that's what makes wool so wonderful... the other is silk," he said.

Ken Tunnicliff.

Photo: Supplied

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