Australian Wool Innovation Limited (AWI) announced that improved seasonal conditions in south-eastern Australia are reflected in the latest national shorn wool production forecasts released, with the 2005/06 clip expected to be 467 million kilograms (mkg), slightly lower than 2004/05.

Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) Production Forecasting Committee Chairman Dr David James stated that the 2005/06 forecast was just 1.7 per cent or 8mkg lower than the final 2004/05 production estimate of 475mkg.

He informed that the combination of the decline in shorn wool production in the first half of the season is expected to modestly outweigh the improvement in fleece weights in the second half of the 2005/06 season, reducing total forecast shorn wool production 8mkg year-on-year.

Dr James stated that available data showed the impact of the late start to the 2005 pasture growing season, with wool test volumes 5.5 per cent lower for July-November 2005 and sale data indicating a 3.6 per cent drop.

However this is expected to be offset by the improved pasture growing season through spring in much of eastern Australia, resulting in higher fleece weights for sheep shorn in the upcoming autumn.

He also included that they can expect a significantly higher contribution to shorn wool production from WA in the second half of the 2005/06 season relative to the same period the year before – considering the excellent pasture growing conditions throughout 2005 andthe early finish to the WA season in 2004.

To a lesser extent, a similar pattern is expected in NSW. At the beginning of the 2005/06 season, nearly 90 per cent of NSW was suffering from drought conditions, but after good spring rains this fell to less than 30 per cent by November. As the drought recedes, fleece weights for sheep shorn in NSW are expected to increase the further shearing moves into the 2006 calendar year.

The micron profile of the Australian clip continues to be forecast to be broader than in the 2004/05 season. It is expected that the proportion of 20 and 21 micron wool will increase, primarily at the expense of 19 micron production.

A full report of the Committee's December forecasts will be available after 2.00pm next Wednesday, 14 December on the AWI website. The next meeting of the AWI Production Forecasting Committee is scheduled for Thursday 9 March 2006.

First established as a subsidiary of Australian Wool Services in 2001, Australian Wool Innovation Limited (AWI) became a fully independent public company limited by shares and owned by Australian woolgrowers in 2002.
 
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