Non-declared wool costing growers money

The findings from Australian Wool Exchange analysis of market data from the 2022/23 season showed that declared wool performed better than similar wool without any declaration.

AWEX data indicates that total declaration rates have stalled over the last three seasons, declining from 76.1pc to 74.8pc.

The 1.3pc decline in declaration rate over the three-year period has raised concerns at AWEX, as ND wool has increased by 2.5pc and it is being heavily discounted compared to all other categories.

For Merino wool, 16-18 micron non-declared wool was subject to discounts ranging from 2c to 39c per clean kilogram compared to wool declared as mulesed.

When compared to Merino wool declared as non-mulesed, those discounts ranged from 17c to 64c per clean kilogram.

The analysis also showed that 17 micron wool declared as mulesed with analgesic or anaesthetic received an average premium of 47c per clean kilogram, compared to non-declared wool.

The discounts for non-delared wool were also evident in the non-Merino market, with analysis of data showing a discount of 13 to 15 c per clean kilogram for 28 to 29 micron wool, as compared to wool declared mulesed.

AWEX CEO Mark Grave, AWEX CEO said during its fifteen year history, interest in the NWD and and the mulesing status of wool lots available for purchase has continued to strengthen.

"AWEX receives NWD verification requests on a daily and weekly basis," he said.

"Over the last 12 months, the market for merino wool has been volatile and the crossbred market continues to be challenging.

"This raises the question of why a wool grower wouldn't declare their wool and take advantage of the better market competition that is available?"

Prior to the last three year period, the declaration rate had been climbing steadily since 2010, growing from 42.2pc nationally to 55pc in 2015 and 76.1pc in 2020.

In 2021, that slid back to 75.3pc before dropping further to 74.8pc in 2022.

Out of all the states Western Australia has the poorest declaration rate at 54.2pc while Queensland's is the best at 86pc.

Queensland is also the only state that has seen an increase in NWD use since 2020, when its rate was only 80.3pc.

In that same time frame rates declined in NSW from 81.4pc to 77.2pc, in Victoria from 82.8pc to 76.7pc, in South Australia from 83pc to 79.5pc and in Tasmania from 87pc to 83.2pc.