New wool cooperative for all wool producers

New wool cooperative for all wool producers

The new farmer-owned national wool marketing organisation, Primary Wool Cooperative Ltd, will handle all wool types, and not just strong wools.

There have been some reports that the cooperative is a strong wools organisation and will only cater for strong wool types, but managing director Brian Murray says it will handle all wools types.

Primary Wool Cooperative Ltd has been formed by the merger of two of New Zealand's largest cooperative wool entities, East Coast Wool Cooperative Ltd of Dannevirke and the wool division of Combined Rural Traders (CRT Primary Wools) based in Christchurch.

Mr Murray stresses it will service the full cross section of New Zealand wool growers.

"Obviously our North Island operation will be predominately engaged in procuring strong wools, but the current South Island business of CRT already handles significant quantities of mid-micron and finer wool types," he says. "It is our intention that Primary Wool Cooperative Ltd will greatly increase the volumes of all wools handled, right across the type and micron range."

Wool producers will shortly be offered the opportunity of becoming shareholders in the cooperative, enabling them to share in the company's returns. The cooperative structure means earnings will be retained within the wool producing sector, instead of being lost to commercial investors.

Primary Wool Cooperative Ltd will handle more than 140,000 bales of wool in its first year, making it the second largest procurer of wool in New Zealand, and the largest wool cooperative by a significant margin.

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