Australian Wool IndustryEssay Preview: Australian Wool IndustryReport this essayINTRODUCTIONAustralia is the worlds largest wool producing country, and has been for decades. The fine quality of wool from the result of fine breeding has definitely help contribute to the high demand of the wool industry. Much of Australias wool has been exported to other countries such as China, Italy, Taiwan, Republic of Korea and France. However, Australias wool production has been decreasing for the last 10 years and the demand has been declining because of the other, easier to manage, synthetic fibers and materials that have been introduced to the market. This following report is regarding the changes and effects the wool industry had on Australia in the 19th century, the reasons for the successful development of the wool industry, and also Australias current position in wool production.
In 1901, the Swedish royal government introduced a system to regulate the production of wool from the wool market within the kingdom of Jutland.
The Swedish royal government also introduced the first strict requirement for the use of the wool product, and after some years of testing, the wool producers began to reduce the amount of wool that they produced.
In 1913, in response to an article by Swedish diplomat Robert Jäger, the Swedish parliament passed the Swedish wool system. It changed from a compulsory wholesale market for sheep to a competitive wholesale market. It replaced an existing wool-export system with a wholesale market, and the standard for selecting wool products was based on quality. By 1916, the Swedish wool trade had grown to 150 million tonnes, the third largest of them all. (Source)
In the early years after the Swedish royal government introduced the Swedish system, the wool exports from the kingdom reached more than 500 million items, the majority of which were wool exported. However, only about 1-in-1 of the total wool exported to Australia took the form of exports (for example, some 50 million wool was imported from overseas and 1 million wool was exported to the U.S. as a part of the Australian wool crop). In the next three decades wool imports began to decrease as more wool was exported. As Australian exports decreased, so did the quality of Australian wool.
By 1914, the average quantity of wool produced in the country was 7-20 kilograms of (or equivalent to 300,000 gils). The average total wool exported for Canada was 2,000 kilograms.
Wool exports in Australia during this time (1914-1916):
Raw wool from the US, Australia, Germany, England (UK and other European countries) and other Eastern European countries [Source]
From there, Australia experienced a spike in imports during the period (1915-1917, when wool imported was 1,000 kilograms). In the following years, wool exports went down.
After the United Nations Convention on The Law of the Sea was adopted in 1921, wool exports from Asia began dropping precipitously.[1]
The Swedish wool program was more effective than any other of the various wool systems in the Western countries, especially in that it was able to control the amount of wool imported when the wool producer could find that the imported fibers was more desirable than the imported material. When production of wool was limited, the wool producers simply started to lower the quantity (as the wool industry did).
Wool imports did not just disappear and are still there today. In spite of the decline of wool quality quality, the wool industry continues to benefit from an active market economy in several countries where it is used extensively. In Australia, the wool shortage is not just confined to wool that arrives from China but also from other areas of the world. Australian wool has also been able to obtain from abroad the necessary labour to manufacture and transport its products for the Australian market.
As the amount of wool imported for export varies widely with country and state, the supply of wool from Australia falls slowly. A good guide for estimating the demand from exporting industries is in a recent paper by S.J. Woll.
The graph shown in the upper right shows some recent data. The graph shows the annual demand levels for wool from a wool producer from all provinces and territories of Sweden, and for wool from all provinces of the United Kingdom and Ireland. This graph is available in English. Some other data, such as the average wool
HISTORY Ð- JOHN MACARTHURThe first sheep to arrive in Australia, Botany Bay was in 1788 on the First Fleet, brought by Governor Phillip. The sheep that were brought over were only to be used for food and not for wool production for the new settlement in the newly found country. They had thick, hairy fleeces and small groups of them were brought frequently, however only a few survived the journey and the few that survived were not use to the climatic changes and died soon after.
Governor Philip later realised Australias soil and climate were better suited for livestock grazing than any farming. So after setting up many farms in 1792 Governor Philip headed back to England and left a temporary governor, Major Francis Grose to replace him until 1794. This was when the significant changes occurred, free settlers were allowed in Australia and officers and officials were given grants of land.
John Macarthur, an officer in the New South Wales Corps took advantage of the grants of land, he was the most productive of the officers. He and two of his friends brought several pure blood Spanish Merino sheep to Australia, he then started breeding them some of his mixed breeds. He continued with this practice until he was certain that the result was that the quality of the wool was alike to the wools from Spain and Germany. John Macarthurs success in fine-wool production gave Australia great wealth.
AUSTRALIAN MERINO WOOLAustralia produces the worlds best woollen fibre, Australian Merino wool, which is also the main sheep breed in this country (75% are Merinos in Australia). This has been a result from the climate in Australia and also selected breeding. The Australian Merino produces pure, white wool, which is fine and soft but strong. There are six main categories of merino in Australia. Ultrafine wool (17.5 micron fibre diameter or finer) Superfine wool (17.6-18.5 micron fibre diameter), Fine-Medium wool (19.6-20.5 micron fibre diameter), Medium wool (20.6-22.5 micron fibre diameter) and Strong wool (22.6 micron fibre diameter and more.)
Ultrafine wool is the finest wool fibre in the world. Merinos in the range of 12.5 to 16.9 are suitable for blending with other fibres such as silk and cashmere, an elite fashion area of the market. Fine-Medium wool is becoming the largest section of the Australian Merino breeding industry. Breeders want to produce finer micron wool whilst maintaining their fleece weights similar to the medium Merino. Medium wool types are found in extremely large numbers throughout New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. The sheep are large and produce a heavy fleece which is soft and of good colour. Strong wool types are well known in the western part of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. The strong wool Merino can survive in hot, dry and semi-arid areas of Australia and can easily be cared for.
ECONOMIC CHANGES DUE TO WOOL INDUSTRYAs the wool industry was profitable because of the Industrial Revolution and the links with the British Economy. There was a great demand of raw material such, cotton and wool and Australia, with its vast areas of land was one of the ideally the place to produce huge quantities of wool, exceedingly cheap. As the cost of production was very cheap, falling wool prices had little impact. The Australian wool industry played a great role in heightening the British economy.
The Gold Rushes occurred around in the 1850s to 1880s and influenced the wool industry dramatically. There was a lack of labourers, as working in the wool industry needed more effort. The wool industry didnt improve in the 1890s, economic problems occurred when drought seriously affected wool production. Sheep numbers fell from 106 million to 54 million, around a 49% decrease.
AUSTRALIAN WOOL INDUSTRY TODAYAustralia currently is the major world producer and exporter of wool, particularly fine merino, although income from wool exports is now less than one-tenth of the total export income of the country. In the early 1990s the annual production of wool was 731,300 metric tons; representing about 15 percent of the value of farm output, down from 28 percent in the late 1980s. About half the countrys wool is produced in New South Wales and Western Australia. The reason for the fall of the wool