US imports of wool rich, chiefly wool and wool poor hand-knitting yarn grew exponentially between 2001 and 2004, peaking in 2005.
However, analysis of more recent import data suggests the boom is petering out for man-made fibres and wool blends, but wool rich and fine animal hair hand-knitting yarn product continues to do well.
In the first 9 months of 2006, US imports of hand-knitting yarn with some wool content slipped in both value and volume terms.
Wool-poor blends were most affected and imports of chiefly wool yarns also fell significantly.
In contrast, wool rich yarns (containing 85 percent or more wool or fine animal hair content by weight) performed robustly (as in 2005), and while declining moderately in value they lifted in volume terms.
Of the key source countries, the US's trade with Peru remains strong, while trade with Italy declined considerably in 2006.
However, while Italy's exports to the US are less robust this calendar year, Italian hand-knitting yarn spinners are doing extremely good business into China and Hong Kong.
Past fibre price movements - wool prices slumped in the second half of 2005 and are only now rapidly approaching a cyclical peak; in contrast, synthetic fibre prices were adversely affected by the surge in oil prices last year - as well as a cooling in the fashion trend, have affected these trade results.
Australian Wool Innovation Limited
marketing@alchempro.com
