In the first quarter of this year, China imported 77,230 tons of wool down by 3.77 percent than the same period of 2007. Raw wool imports amounted to 57,644 tons which also recorded a drop by 9.49 percent.
Clean wool imports of 12,817 saw a surge of 43.64 percent while wool top import of 3,958 declined by 21.45 percent. Import of carbonized wool also plummeted by 28.27 percent.
Among the suppliers was Australia which again emerged as the largest exporter supplying 42,800 tons of wool, down by 15.07 percent than the corresponding period of last year.
China also imported 9,906 tons of wool from New Zealand, up by 33.41 percent, 6,761 tons from Uruguay, down by 12.19 percent, 2,534 tons from Argentina and 2,479 tons from South Africa.
High prices of raw wool have been one of the major reasons behind the decline in imports. Additionally, RMB appreciation has also restrained the import and export of wool by Chinese enterprises.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - China