CANBERRA, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Australia's wool production is forecast to fall to its lowest level in over 100 years in 2025.
According to a new report from the industry body Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee (AWPFC), Australia is expected to produce 279.4 million kilograms of shorn raw wool in the current 2024-25 season.
That figure would represent a 12 percent drop in production from 318 million kg in the 2023-24 season and the lowest level of raw wool production in Australia since 1920-21, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported on Tuesday.
The AWPFC said the total number of sheep shorn is forecast to fall 11.7 percent to 63.2 million in 2024-25, down from a peak of around 180 million in the 1970s.
Wool production is forecast to be lower in 2024-25 than in 2023-24 in all six Australian states. In four states production is expected to decline by more than 10 percent.
Stephen Hill, chair of the AWPFC, said that commodity prices, input costs and other external factors have driven producers across the country to sell their sheep.
"Together with variable seasonal conditions, these decisions are pointing towards structural change in the wool industry evident in declining numbers of sheep shorn and consequently shorn wool production," he said in a statement.
The sheep slaughter rate between July and September 2024 was 28 percent higher than the same period in 2023 and 66 percent higher than the five-year average for the period.
According to the Rural Bank, the value of Australia's wool exports fell by 12 percent in 2023-24 to 2.8 billion Australian dollars (1.7 billion U.S. dollars).
Exports to China accounted for 84.6 percent of the total value of wool exports. ■