Ulster Wool and the IWTO

Ulster Wool has been a member of the International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO) for many years. It is the global authority for standards in the wool textile industry. Since 1930, the IWTO has represented the collected interests of the global wool trade. Members come from all stages of the wool textile pipeline, from farm to retail.

Working with the IWTO is crucial for Ulster Wool. Andrew Hogley, CEO at Ulster Wool, explains:

 “A critical part of the IWTO is that it sets the global standards for wool testing that all wool growing nations are subject to. These are the tests that all the lots we sell at auction go through at the Wool Testing Authority Europe (WTAE), in Caernarfon. This gives our buyers third party verification on things such as yield, vegetable matter, micron and colour of the wool.”

WTAE is the only IWTO accredited laboratory in the Northern Hemisphere and test wool from all over Europe. All Australian, New Zealand and South African wool goes through the same tests.

Andrew continued: “Another crucial part of IWTO is that it brings the global wool community together.

“We are all facing the same challenges; falling sheep numbers (and therefore wool volumes), prices below where they need to be and wool being attacked on many fronts on animal welfare and the environment.

“This allows us to go to market with a unified voice, as we always say to our members, we are stronger together, and given wool only makes up 1% of global fibres this is also true in the general wool industry.”

Ulster Wool recently attended the annual conference, with Andrew presenting on some of the success Ulster Wool’s partner British Wool has had, including contract grading (Isle of Man and Southern Ireland) plus the challenges European wool growers face trying to get their wool to market.

Andrew concludes: “In the UK around 80% of the wool comes to market with 20% being utilised on farm, whereas in mainland Europe, the opposite is the case.

“This is because there is no Ulster Wool alternative in mainland Europe working on behalf of the farmer, European farmers are dependent on private buyers often paying rock bottom prices or even have to pay to get the wool disposed of in some instances. Attending the conference this year, it was very apparent that although we face many challenges in the UK with regards to wool we are in a much stronger position than our European counterparts.”