1 December 2023
A bale of CFY 14.3 micron superfine wool from Chris and Pieter van Rooyen of Oorlogspoort Prestige Fine Wool Merinos near Noupoort achieved a season record price of R300/kg greasy wool.
This is the third-highest price paid for wool in South Africa in the past decade. Although their wool usually receives a premium of 30% above market prices, Chris van Rooyen did not expect this price.
“Our agents really went the extra mile to bring buyers together,” says Chris, who manages Oorlogspoort with his son, Pieter.
According to Chrisna Coetsee of Segard Masurel, who acted as a broker, it was a very fine and specialised type of wool.
In addition to the good micron, Oorlogspoort’s wool is exceptionally white compared to the usual off-white colour, and has good tensile strength. The C-length wool of 56 mm means it can be used as a combing type. Standard Wool purchased the wool for a European buyer.
According to Chrisna, not much superfine wool is available in South Africa.
Another bale of BFY 15.2 micron from Oorlogspoort was sold for R245/kg greasy wool at the 14th auction of the 2023-24 season. The wool price rose again during the auction to encourage wool farmers during a difficult season. The price of non-certified wool was up by 6.3% to R156.35/kg clean wool and the price of certified wool rose by 6.8% to R176.31/kg clean wool, according to the Cape Wools indicator.
“I think farmers were generally excited to see an increase after last week’s market report, and the increase in prices gave them a bit of hope again. Farmers are currently under great pressure,” says Chrisna.
Exceptional
Thanks to the exceptional prices at an unfavourable time, the Van Rooyens were able to achieve a similar wool income as nine months ago. Fine wool prices have dropped by almost 20% since then.
“The fact that I could sell exclusive wool means that we could maintain our wool prices, while my neighbours and colleagues have to accept a reduction of up to 30% in their wool income,” says Chris.
He explains to African Farming that when he brought the flock of sheep for shearing, he saw their wool was fine and classified it accordingly. The superfine wool was kept aside and baled separately. The specific lots came from a flock of year-old sheep and were very clean and beautiful.
“Conditions also had some influence. We had very good rain and therefore much more grass.”
He suspects that thanks to the grass, the sheep received more energy and less protein. A higher protein content in feed usually leads to stronger microns.
Additionally, the wool was exceptionally clean due to the good field conditions.
Although Oorlogspoort has previously delivered bales of superfine wool of 15 microns, it was not the same style, quality and length, Chris explains. In addition, the tensile strength of the wool sold for the record price was very good.
Superfine
According to Chris, they have been breeding for fine wool at Oorlogspoort since 1988. His father, Pieter van Rooyen, was the chairman of the South African Wool Board at the time and later the president of the National Woolgrowers’ Association. He used his insight and knowledge in the wool industry to start the fine wool stud.
“We are constantly breeding for larger, more fertile sheep, but we aim to stay at the same microns,” says Chris.
Their overall shearing averages just under 18 microns, but for the specific auction the average shearing was 17 microns, “which is very fine”.
Due to the good field conditions, the sheep were purely on the field this year and were not fed at all.
“As it gets drier, I will probably shear finer, but what is promising is that under normal circumstances we could shear the fine microns.”
For the ram auction in February, the rams will be fed to push them to their maximum micron, “then you know their wool won’t get stronger, and the rams’ wool will only get finer and finer”.
