WELLINGTON: A new report shows that the export value of wool from December to January dropped by 25 percent, and in the past six months it has fallen 10 percent.
The figures show the extent of the damage that high exchange rates, Brexit and Donald Trump’s election have had on wool exports.
The wool industry has had a tough season so far. China, which buys 60 percent of New Zealand’s wool exports, vanished from the market after Trump was elected US president.
Beef and Lamb New Zealand chief economist Andrew Burtt said the 10 percent drop in export value for the six months to January was driven by currency changes.
“Most of that is the huge change in the value of the New Zealand dollar against the currencies in which wool is exported … for example against stirling the NZD is 30 percent stronger than it was for the same time last season – that’s really following the referendum in the UK on Brexit.”
Burtt said the 25 percent drop in export value from December to January was a slightly different story.
The value of medium wool exports per tonne has dropped by over 9.4 percent in the past six months, fine cross bred wool is down 21 percent and strong wool is down 12.5 percent.
