World’s Largest Wool Producing Countries | Geography

The major wool-producing countries, with the ex­ception of the U.S.S.R. are in the southern continents, where the warmer climates related to the limited southerly extent of the continents, provide better con­ditions for wool production than the damper, cooler conditions of many temperate areas in the northern hemisphere.

The rather dry climates of interior Aus­tralia and South Africa and the rain-shadow region of Patagonia in Argentina are ideal for wool production. Sheep farming on a very extensive scale is often the most economic use of land in the drier regions and in turn extensive production has economies of scale which make for lower-cost production.

This enables the southern continents to compete with European or North American producers despite the added costs of transporting the wool to the wool manufacturing countries. Sheep production for wool in Europe is often a less economic form of land use than the raising of sheep for meat or arable farming.

Thus Australia (27 per cent), New Zealand (12 per cent), Argentina (6.5 per cent) and South Africa (4 per cent) are the leading wool producers. The U.S.S.R. raises its wool sheep in the semi-arid regions around the Caspian Sea and in Central Asia and accounts for 18 per cent of world wool production.

Wool is produced not only by these few large-scale producers but also by a very large number of minor producers. Many of the minor producers are in areas where sheep farming has been going on for centuries, such as in Europe, Asia, North Africa and the Middle East.

These countries, such as Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Portugal in Europe; Iran, Af­ghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, India, Syria and Morocco are not only ancient sheep-rearing areas but also have long-established woollen textile industries.

Starting in the earliest times, wool has been used to make textiles in the Old World, and many countries continue these ancient traditions in contemporary handicrafts indus­tries such as carpets and rugs in Iran and India, cash­mere goods in the Himalayas and so on. In Europe, too, the traditional woollen textiles such as tweeds and tar­tans in Scotland, and knitted goods in Ireland are still made.

The modern woollen textile industry developed in Britain and Europe was based on local wool produc­tion. But when large-scale sheep rearing took root in the new lands of the southern continents high-cost production in Europe could not compete.

Wool pro­duction therefore declined but the woollen textile in­dustry remained in the traditional areas in the indus­trial countries of the northern hemisphere, except for small-scale development in India. This position is almost the reverse of that in the cotton textile indus­try which is now dominated by cotton-growing coun­tries.

There are several reasons for this. Firstly, woollen textiles require greater skill and fewer workers than cotton textiles and are thus well-suited to the indus­trial nations. Secondly, markets for woollen goods are largely in the colder northern countries. The producers in the southern continents have generally warmer cli­mates and thus constitute a smaller market.

Cotton goods had the advantage in underdeveloped countries of both cheap available labour and a large home mar­ket in mainly tropical areas. A third reason is the sparse population of many wool-producing areas. This reduces market potential and means that wage rates for workers are as high or higher than in established areas. Australia thus accounts for only 1 per cent of the world’s woollen textiles.

The only country to introduce a woollen textile in­dustry on a large scale in recent years is Japan. This was prompted partly by the wish to compete in es­tablished markets because Japanese wage rates were slightly lower, and partly by the growing use of West­ern-style clothing in Japan. Silks and cottons were suitable for traditional garments but wool is better for suits and knitwear. Japan, however, has hardly any domestic wool-production and imports its wool from Australia.

Wool is thus a fairly important commodity in world trade. The trade is characterized by the long distances travelled by the wool from the low-cost producers in the southern hemisphere to the textile manufacturers in the northern hemisphere. Another important aspect of the world wool trade is that wool is suffering severe competition from man-made fibres.

Synthetic fibres have now been evolved which reproduce or better the main qualities of wool. As a result the world wool pro­duction has tended to stagnate in recent years. In future, output from some major producers such as Australia may decline, but countries such as the U.S.S.R. and China, which rely more on large home markets, may continue to increase their production.

The main wool-producing countries are considered in detail below and the major manufacturers are also briefly covered:

Wool Production in Australia:

Australia is the world’s leading wool producer. More than two-thirds of the approxi­mately 135 million sheep are merinos, kept for wool production. Merinos were first introduced into Austra­lia in the early nineteenth century when the country was still a penal colony, but the advantages of wool production were only realized between about 1860 and 1890, when there was a great expansion both in sheep numbers and in the area used for sheep farming.

Sheep farming at this time was carried on in almost arid environments where 8 hectares (20 acres) or more were required for one sheep, but the position was ra­tionalized in later years when severe droughts proved that such areas could not be used continuously.

The number of sheep and therefore the production of wool in Australia, varies very markedly in response to the climate, but recurrent droughts in the interior have led to a decline in sheep farming in marginal areas and a concentration on the better-watered areas, where rainfall is between 380 mm and 625 mm (15 and 25 inches) annually.

Sheep farming is now concentrated in New South Wales, especially in the rolling Downs on the western side of the Great Dividing Range. In the favoured areas crossbred sheep are increasingly kept, and form part of a system of mixed farming.

Mixed farming is more stable than specialized wool pro­duction as farmers derive income from crops and sheep produced for meat for the major urban markets, as well as from wool. They are thus less dependent on world market trends and accompanying price fluctua­tions. Crossbreeds now account for about one-third of the Australian flock.

Selective breeding and better farming methods have greatly helped to increase wool output. The supply of water to the paddocks and the sowing of clover and other fodder crops has helped to improve not only the amount of wool in the fleeces but also its quality. Australian merinos yield between 12 and 22 kg (25 and 45 lb) each of wool per year.

Australia has only a small woollen textile industry and exports 90 per cent of its wool production, the main markets being Japan, Britain, and other European countries.

Wool Production in New Zealand:

For its size New Zealand has an astonishing number of sheep; in 1977 the figure was in the region of 59 million. The moist, maritime cli­mate and better pasturage in the country have led New Zealand to specialize in meat rather than wool pro­duction, but wool is nevertheless an important item in the economy.

The climatic conditions favour English breeds of sheep such as the Romney Marsh breed, which accounts for about three-quarters of the New Zealand flocks, rather than the merinos which need drier conditions.

New Zealand’s wool output is mostly of moderate- quality crossbred wools, though merino wool is pro­duced to a small extent in the drier conditions of the eastern side of the South Island. Sheep farming for wool is usually a specialist activity in contrast to lamb production where sheep are kept on mixed firms.

The New Zealanders have been pioneers in sheep- as in dairy-farming and by improved breeding, and es­pecially by improving the pastures, have maintained a lead in wool yield per animal. New Zealand fleeces are the heaviest in the world. Clovers and other fodder crops developed in New Zealand have been introduced in Australia and elsewhere to improve production.

A notable feature of farm improvement in the country is the use of light aircraft to spread fertilizers, such as phosphates, on the grasslands; by improving the pas­tures, the carrying capacity of the farms can be great­ly enhanced. The markets for New Zealand wool are the same as those of Australia, and only efficient pro­duction can make it worthwhile to send wool halfway round the world to textile centres in Europe and Britain.

Wool Production in South Africa:

South Africa has about 31 million sheep, almost all of which are kept for wool. The large majority are merinos and South Africa is therefore the second greatest producer of high-quality merino wool. Sheep are mostly kept in eastern Cape Province, in Transvaal and in Orange Free State, where rainfall is moderate, being between 510 and 760 mm (20 and 30 inches) a year.

Sheep are kept, too, in the drier west of Cape Province but the carrying capacity of the land is much lower and there are therefore fewer animals. South Africa has progressed less rapid­ly in improving efficiency of production because tra­ditional methods are still low-cost in a country which relies on cheap African labour.

Wool Production in Argentina:

Argentina is a major sheep-rearing country, having about 36 million sheep. About half of Argentina’s sheep are found in the dry, windy plateau country of Patagonia in the south. This region has a large proportion of merino sheep, but as a whole meri­no wool forms only about one-fifth of the total wool output. The majority of Argentina’s production is of medium and poor grade wools. Its main markets are Britain and the U.S.A., both of which import carpet wools.

Uruguay is also a fairly important wool producer, accounting for 2.4 per cent of the world total. Other South American producers of note are Brazil and Chile. There is little woollen textile manufacture in Latin America.

Wool Production in the U.S.S.R. and China:

The Soviet Union has the largest number of sheep in the world, its total being about 139 million head. The sheep are kept mostly in Asiatic U.S.S.R. on large state farms. U.S.S.R. is expanding its sheep-farming operations and is carrying out research into improving breeds, the use of artificial insemination and the improvement of pastures. It has more sheep than Australia but a lower wool production.

The U.S.S.R. has a large domestic market for woollen goods because of the cold continental climate with long severe winters ex­perienced in most parts of the country. Moreover its production of synthetic yarns lags behind that of the western nations and Japan, and thus the market for natural fibres is still large compared with Australia and other western producers who are experiencing great competition from synthetics.

Most of the Soviet woollen textile production is in European U.S.S.R., about a third being made in the Moscow region. Other manufacturing centres are Leningrad and Kiev, and Alma-Ata in Kazakhstan.

China, with about 2.5 per cent of the world out­put of wool, is also increasing its production, especial­ly in the large ’empty’ areas in the west. But wool manufacture is still on a very small scale and is over­shadowed by the very large cotton textile industry.

Wool Production in U.S.A.:

Sheep are relatively unimportant in the U.S.A. since they give much smaller returns than cattle and their numbers have been consistently declining since 1900. Some sheep are kept in most parts of the country but the majority are kept primarily for meat. Lamb is not a favourite meat in the U.S.A. but the large population creates a substantial market. Local wool supplies are supplemented by imports.

The number of sheep dropped from 25 million animals in the mid-60s to only 12 million in the mid- 70s reflecting a huge drop in wool textile manufacture in the same period (from 16% to 2% of world wool yarn production). The sheep are kept in the drier western states, the greatest concentration being on the Edwards Plateau of Texas.

Sheep are allowed to range freely but are usually rounded up and kept in protective enclosures at night to guard against attack by Prairie predators such as coyotes. Sheep farming is so unpopular in the United States that French shep­herds have had to be recruited to help manage the flocks. Winter feedstuff is provided by man-sown, irrigated fodder crops.

Despite the relatively unimportant role of sheep in the U.S.A., they do supply part of the wool require­ments for a long-established woollen textile industry, based in New England. Local wool supplies, skilled labour and power supplies initiated the industry in the nineteenth century, and the U.S.A., especially the northern states, provided a large domestic market. But the manufacture of wool has declined over the years in the face of competition from cheaper syn­thetics and low-cost woollen textile imports from Europe and Japan. It is now a small, high-class spe­cialist industry.

Woollen textile plants are usually small, requiring a small number of skilled workers, unlike the large-scale cotton mills. The woollen textile industry has therefore not drifted to the South as has the cotton industry. Another advantage of its New England location is that it is within easy reach of New York, which is the overwhelming fashion centre and apparel-manufacturing region of the U.S.A. However, all branches of textile manufacture face severe com­petition especially from Asia and more and more fab­ric and garments are imported in finished form.

Wool Production in European Countries:

European countries such as Britain, Italy, Germany, and France are only minor wool pro­ducers today, but were once more important. They still retain, however, their long-established tex­tile industries.

Britain’s woollen textiles industry goes back to the Roman period, when both sheep farming and woollen cloth production were concentrated in the south of the country. The industry was important during the fif­teenth and sixteenth centuries also, but the real ex­pansion came with the Industrial Revolution, when Yorkshire became the major woollen-manufacturing region.

The Yorkshire industry was originally based on local supplies of wool, on the clear water of the Pennine streams used in washing and finishing pro­cesses, and on the availability of first water- and later coal-power for the mills.

The woollen industry was greatly stimulated by the invention of textile ma­chinery in the eighteenth century. Older centres in the south-west and in East Anglia declined with the introduction of steam power and the industry became concentrated in such towns as Keighley, Bradford, Halifax and Huddersfield.

Regions outside Yorkshire have still maintained their woollen industries by mak­ing highly-specialized products, e.g. wool yarn and knitted goods in the East Midlands; tweeds and knit­wear in various parts of Scotland; blankets, flannels and high quality woollens in the West Country and Wales; and carpets in the south Midlands. Ireland also has a small specialized woollen industry.

Sheep are kept mainly on the poorer pastures of the uplands and account for only 2 per cent of the world wool output. About 85 per cent of the wool used in the British textiles industry is imported.

In Europe, as in Britain, the most important woollen textile regions are the traditional coalfield areas. In France woollen goods are made in the north around Lille, Douai, Roubaix and Tourcoing; in Belgium, Verviers is the main centre; and in Germany textiles are made at Krefeld and Wuppertal. Italy, which spe­cializes in knitted goods, has textile centres in the North Italian Plain. Many East European countries have woollen textile industries catering for a domestic market but based on imported wool.

Wool Production in Japan:

Although the woollen textile industry is not traditional in Japan as it is in Europe, it has be­come important in recent years. Japan makes about 7.5 per cent of the world’s woollen yarn and a larger proportion of finished fabrics. Japan imports its wool principally from Australia and New Zealand and is a major exporter of cloth and knitwear, to Europe and the U.S.A.