Chapter 807 The Wool Comes From the Sheep

"Then how did you answer?" After returning to the hotel in the evening, Shen Ying asked Fan Wubing on the bed.

"Then what else can we do?" Fan Wubing shrugged and said, "It's rare for the number one commander to speak up. How can I refuse such a small request? Of course I agreed."

"But how are you going to deal with so much wool?" Shen Ying felt a headache for Fan Wubing.

New Zealand is the world's third largest wool producer, accounting for about 14% of the world's wool output. It is also the world's second largest wool exporter, accounting for about 12% of the world's wool export trade.

The sheep raising industry in New Zealand began in the late 18th century and was initially introduced by British colonists. In the 1850s, a large-scale sheep raising industry was developed on the natural grasslands along the coasts of the North and South Islands. The total number of animals raised reaches more than 300,000.

At the end of the 19th century, with the discovery of gold mines in New Zealand and the influx of a large number of foreign immigrants, the demand for mutton continued to increase. With the emergence of refrigerated ships, mutton could be exported in large quantities. The sheep breeds raised in New Zealand gradually changed from mainly producing wool. The transition from Merino sheep to British sheep for both wool and meat.

By the 1930s, the number of sheep raised had increased to 30 million, making it one of the world's major wool producers and exporters. A pasture management pattern of producing semi-fine wool sheep and sheep for both wool and meat was basically formed.

After the Second World War, New Zealand was the first in the world to apply and promote the use of aircraft to spread grass and topsoil fertilization, turning most natural pastures into high-yielding improved pastures. Fence-raised sheep were widely adopted, and sheep selective breeding was carried out according to local conditions. It adopted advanced sheep-raising technology and management systems and joined Australia in becoming an advanced sheep-raising country. By 1971, the number of sheep raised reached nearly 60 million.

Later, after the United Kingdom joined the European Community, New Zealand lost its traditional main export market, and the development trend of the sheep industry was suppressed. Since then, the New Zealand government has continued to implement high welfare policies and subsidized the export of industrial and agricultural products. In addition, the popularity of natural fiber clothing has driven an increase in wool consumption in the world market. New Zealand's sheep raising industry has experienced restorative development. In the early 1980s, New Zealand's sheep raising industry During the peak period of the industry, the number of sheep exceeded 70 million, setting a record high in history.

However, since the late 1980s, due to the weakening of the sheep industry's comparative advantage, New Zealand's sheep industry has shown a downward trend, with the number of sheep raised reduced to more than 40 million.

Sheep farming is the main industry that New Zealand farmers and herdsmen rely on for survival. One in every twelve people in the country is engaged in sheep production.

"I have read the data. The way New Zealand wool circulates is through the wool auction market and individual retailers purchasing directly from wool producers. The former accounts for more than 60% of the total wool sales. Therefore, the New Zealand wool auction market Price changes will guide the overall price trend of New Zealand wool.

"Fan Wubing said to Shen Ying, "But if we deal directly with the official to take over the wool, we will probably suffer a loss in terms of price. This is why the number one chief wanted me to take over this business. "

In recent years, due to the New Zealand government's cancellation of agricultural subsidies, wool exports have been affected to a certain extent. In recent years, the wool export volume has been less than 200,000 tons. Last year, due to the impact of the Southeast Asian financial crisis, the Asian market The demand for wool is not strong, so New Zealand's wool export volume this year will probably drop to 150,000 to 60,000 tons, which can be said to be the lowest level in history.

It is precisely for this reason that the New Zealand government is considering building a good relationship with China and recognizing China's market economy status in exchange for solving this important issue that will affect New Zealand's economy.

New Zealand's wool export market is relatively fragmented, with China and the United Kingdom being the two main export markets. About one-third of the wool is exported to China and the United Kingdom. In the past two years, the demand structure for wool textile raw materials in China has shifted to worsted raw materials, while the UK has a strong demand for hybrid wool. Therefore, the quantity of wool exported from New Zealand to the UK has shown an increasing trend year by year. Due to the prosperity of the wool market in mainland China, it has also New Zealand's wool exports to China have been greatly affected.

"In other words, once you agree to this matter, it is very likely that you will not make any profit?" Shen Ying leaned on Fan Wubing's back and watched him check out the various information he had just collected on his laptop. "Also, a sudden increase in imports of New Zealand wool will also cause a relatively large impact on the domestic wool market, or may cause strong opposition from people in pastoral areas."

"That's not the case." Fan Wubing shook his head and said, "There are still some differences in wool. There are still some differences in the uses of domestic wool and imported wool. As long as it is used properly, it will not cause much impact. "

In fact, the current competition in the domestic wool import market is relatively fierce between Australia and New Zealand. As the two largest wool exporters in the world, Australia and New Zealand are inherently competitive.

In recent times, the relationship between Australia and China has not been very harmonious. In addition, wool production in mainland China has also been expanding. Therefore, Australia's wool exports to China have been greatly affected, and New Zealand has suffered heavy losses.

However, there are also very serious shortcomings in domestic wool production. For a long time, in terms of wool improvement, the government has invested funds in most years to purchase improved varieties and support fine wool production. The fact that my country's fine wool production accounts for about 40% of total wool production today is inseparable from government support.

Since the reform and opening up, especially in recent years, the state has continued to provide policy preferences and financial support for the development of dairy cows, beef cattle, and mutton sheep, but has made no investment in wool improvement. Without support from the state, farmers and herdsmen began to benefit from comparative benefits, and their interest in wool improvement gradually faded away. Therefore, the entire improvement of wool was at a standstill, and at the same time there was a resurgence and reverse reform.

The problem of mixed grades of domestic wool has existed for a long time and has not been able to be solved well. This is related to the indifferent concept of farmers and herdsmen who have followed the traditional shearing method for many years. It is also due to the fact that the main subjects of wool harvesting in the circulation process are individuals. It is closely related to the low quality of the traffickers and the indifferent concept of hierarchy. In addition, sometimes wool sales are strong, so they can't take care of so much, and the baskets they pick up are full of vegetables.

"There is a very serious problem now. Although domestic wool production has increased, the quality has declined. Therefore, it cannot be used in high-end clothing fabrics. Imported wool is still the main product." Fan Wubing looked at the information. , scratched his head, "The biggest problem now is that domestic companies cannot digest so much high-quality wool."

In recent years, due to the impact of the financial crisis in Southeast Asia, raw material prices have increased, domestic and foreign textile markets have remained weak, consumer demand for wool textiles has been sluggish, and product prices have declined.

At present, in various markets, in addition to some light and high-count woolen fabrics and products using new technologies, new processes, and new functions, and famous brand products are recognized by consumers, old-fashioned blended wool, woolen fabrics, woolen sweaters, suits and other products are also recognized by consumers because of their Due to lagging design and traditional varieties, there is still a serious backlog.

The dual pressures of rising raw materials and declining product prices have made wool spinning enterprises more difficult to operate, with operating rates declining and profits declining. According to statistical analysis by the Domestic Wool Textile Industry Research Institute, the performance of most of the domestic listed wool spinning companies with wool worsted spinning as the main business has declined, and state-owned enterprises have intensified their losses, and the industry-wide losses have exceeded 60%. , is a severely loss-making part of the state-owned textile industry.

It is true that China is the world's largest consumer market, but if New Zealand wool wants to capture this potential market, it must deal with a series of serious technical and marketing challenges.

Competition is also fierce from other fibers, including man-made fibers at the textile industry level and cotton fibers at the consumer level, and wool is giving way to these fibers, especially cotton fibers.

There is a certain gap between wool and the requirements of Chinese consumers. While Chinese consumers are becoming rich and seeking fashionable and high-quality clothing, wool has not communicated with consumers in a timely manner, so consumers are losing their understanding. Interested in wool, but also not familiar with this fiber and what it can be used for?

"Then what solution have you come up with now?" Shen Ying asked Fan Wubing with great concern.

"There are always ways, but some are difficult and some are easy. It's hard to decide at the moment." Fan Wubing replied somewhat reservedly.

"Then let's talk about it quickly -" Shen Ying was wearing relatively thin silk pajamas and rubbed against Fan Wubing's back, making him a little angry for a moment. After all, she was a newlywed and a young man. High energy.

"Well -" Fan Wubing came back and grabbed Shen Ying, then pressed her on the bed and said with a somewhat unsteady breath, "One of them is to open several large-scale clothing production companies to digest the wool by themselves and produce high-end products. Fabrics are very expensive and the results are relatively slow.”

"It's really troublesome to do this. By the time your factory is built, the wool will be infested with insects." Shen Ying said while twisting under Fan Wubing's body.

"There is another one that is simpler." Fan Wubing quickly entered Shen Ying's body.

"What? Oh - ah -" Shen Ying asked.

"You have to understand that the wool comes from the sheep." Fan Wubing grabbed Shen Ying's arms, pulled her up, sat on him, and made her body move, while saying, " You said if all the sheep in New Zealand died of a flu or something, wouldn’t all my problems be solved?”