New Zealand wool exporters unhappy over scouring monopoly

01 Dec '11

2 min read

Wool exporters in New Zealand are unhappy over the prospects of creation of a monopoly in scouring, as one of the two scour operators presently operating in the country is likely to take over the other.

Cavalier Wool Holdings, one of the two wool scours in the country, is all set to revive its bid for acquiring assets of Wool Services International, the second scour, as the High Court has ruled in its favour.

The High Court rejected an appeal against a Commerce Commission decision and has thus opened the path for acquisition of Wool Services International by Cavalier.

According to Cavalier, amalgamation of the two wool cleaning operations is crucial for their sustenance, as this would help them cut cost in present times, when the wool supply is falling and higher quantity of wool is being shipped out in a raw form to China, as sourcing is cheaper there.

However, the Wool Exporters Council is displeased with such prospects of creation of monopoly in the field of wool scouring, as according to it the wool scouring industry of the country has already undergone major restructuring in the past few years and now it is quite moderately balanced between the two firms, and allowing any such acquisition would give rise to monopoly in the sector.

According to the Council, presently around 75-80 percent of the wool clip is scoured domestically.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India