Argentina is another major wool exporter in the southern hemisphere, and it has become particularly important to the supply chain because a higher proportion of its clip is RWS-accredited compared with Australia. This article takes a look at wool supply data for Argentine from last season.
Mecardo last looked at the wool volumes by micron in the Argentine clip in October 2024 (see more here) and the long term trend in flock size last January (see article here). The Argentine wool supply is taken from the FLA (Argentine Wool Federation) website (see more here) which provides a breakdown of exports by micron category. These exports include current year production and stocks in greasy wool, scoured, top and noil form, all in clean terms.
The latest Textile Exchange Materials Market report (see report here) lists the proportion of national wool clips which were accredited to RWS in 2024 on page 35. Argentina is shown to have a 19% of its clip accredited to RWS. A micron breakdown of the RWS is not shown, so it is assumed in this article the 19% share is spread evenly across all micron categories. This assumption runs counter to the Australian experience (see article here), which shows a very uneven proportion of RWS accreditation across micron categories, as does anecdotal evidence from Uruguay. In contrast anecdotal evidence from South Africa suggests a fairly even level of RWS accreditation proportions across merino micron ranges.
Figure 1 compares published Argentine wool exports (effectively supply) and Australian auction wool sales (tailored to the Argentine micron categories) for last season (2024-25) in clean terms. Australian auction volumes represent around 85% of production. Above the Argentine volumes is shown the proportion of these categories to the Australian auction volumes. For example, the Argentine 20.0-20.9 category volume represents 15.9% of the Australian auction volume. Overall Argentine exports were 11% of Australian auction sales last season. Argentine carryover stocks declined season, helping boost exports by 33% on a stable production estimate.
The comparison of supply volumes by micron gets interesting when we start filtering the Australian clip for qualities such as non-mulesed and RWS accreditation. Figure 2 shows the Argentine proportion of Australian auction sale volume by micron (from Figure 1) and the proportion when the Australian volume is filtered for only non-mulesed wool. The 20.0-20.9 micron proportion rises from 15.9% of the Australian volume to 130% when comparing non-mulesed wool only. From this perspective the Argentine wool supply is larger than the Australian supply for 19.5 through 21.9 micron and 30 to 32.5 micron, with the total supply amounting 44% of Australian auction sales.
In the final schematic the Argentine supply, assuming a flat 19% RWS accreditation across all micron categories, is compared to the Australian RWS supply. Argentine broker/buyers have a trouble getting their farmers to fill in the paperwork required, something in common with Australian farmers. For RWS wool, Argentina matches/exceeds the Australian supply for 19.5 to 21.9 micron and (probably) matches or exceeds the Australian supply of RWS crossbred wool. Overall Argentine RWS volumes are 32% of Australian auction RWS volumes.
What does it mean?
Argentine wool supply, albeit smaller than Australian volumes, is one of the main southern hemisphere wool exporters. The relative importance of Argentine wool supply, ranging from minor to major, varies with a combination of micron category, mules’ status, and RWS accreditation.
Key Points
- Argentine supply in 2024-25 was approximately 11% of Australian wool sold at auction
- Assuming auction sales account for 85% of Australian production means Argentine supply accounts for 9.4% of the Australian wool clip
- When considering non-mulesed wool, only Argentine exports amount to around 44% of Australian auction volumes, with considerable variation between micron categories.
- When considering RWS-accredited wool, Argentine volumes account for 32% of Australian volumes, with considerable variation between micron categories.
Click on figure to expand
Click on figure to expand
Click on figure to expand
Data sources: AWEX, FLA, TE, ICS, Mecardo
