SA wool industry urged to triple-dump bales

SEVEN INTERNATIONAL WOOL ­BUYERS have requested SA brokers to ­triple-dump the bales they handle. In a statement the buyers said that while they purchase and export a considerable proportion of the country’s wool the fact that SA bales continue to be single-dumped is a major drawback.
The buyers said that they have tried to explain to the local brokers that this practice creates significant ­transport, storage and logistical costs but that the brokers argue that to justify a ­triple dump they would require more than double the current space.
According to the buyers, the brokers also maintain that at least three triple dumps would be required, and that handling and labour charges would increase.
The buyers, however, have called an independent assessment of these claims, especially in view of the fact that SA’s wool production has halved. They believe it would make sense to centralise and store all the nation’s wool in Port Elizabeth.
The buyers also maintain that wherever else they buy wool, the greasy bales are dumped two or three at a time, or supplied in jumbo format. This means more wool can be loaded in a six-metre container; containers can be loaded and unloaded faster; and the bales can be manipulated and stored more efficiently in the mill. Single-dumped bales only stack three or four high, while tri-packs can go six or more high. They contend that in Europe and China, where land is expensive, the more kilos they can store on a single square metre, the better. “The more it costs us to handle your wool the less we can afford to pay for it. We strongly urge the SA wool industry, which is now almost entirely export-dependent, to join the rest of the world in supplying multi-dumped bales,” said the buyers.
The statement is signed by: A Dewavrin Fils & Cie; Bremer Woll-Kaemmerei AG;
G Modiano; Reward (Ningbo) Wool Industry Co; Standard Wool South Africa CC; Tianyu Wool Industry Co; and ZhongAo Wool Combing Co. – Roelof Bezuidenhout