In early December Mecardo looked at the New Zealand crossbred wool clip, which is the vast bulk of their production. In this article we take a look at the small merino component of the New Zealand wool clip.
When it comes to understanding merino wool production in New Zealand there are a couple of key uncertainties, namely the volume and the fibre diameter distribution. For volume we begin with wool export data. New Zealand wool export information is available on the excellent Beef+Lamb New Zealand website (see more here). For the fibre diameter distribution, the best information is available on the NZWTA website (see more here).
The micron profiles provided by NZWTA are reproduced in Figure 1, and are assumed to be a reasonable representation of the New Zealand merino clip. The profile is shown from 2005 onwards in 10 year intervals. Note the profile uses micron ranges that run for a whole micron, for example 19.1 to 20.0 micron in contrast to the Australian data which is report from half to half micron eg 19.6 to 20.5 micron. It shows the New Zealand merino clip to have fined up, with 18.5 micron collapsing from 32% to 13% of the merino clip but then starting to increase markedly on the broad edge of the micron distribution (22.5 micron and broader increasing 1.5% to 11% in the past decade). The Mecardo article in December (see article here) showed a big increase in the proportion of the crossbred clip 25 micron and finer. So, there is something going on in the 22-24 micron category production in New Zealand.
Figure 2 shows the change between 2005 and 2025 for the NZWTA merino micron distribution, and the comparable Australian auction volume merino distribution (where the micron categories can be extracted to line up with the New Zealand data). For New Zealand the 17.5 to 19.5 micron categories have been the big losers with 16.5 micron and finer increasing, as have the very broader micron categories. The Australian changes are simpler, increased 18.5 micron and finer proportions and less 19.5 micron and broader.
Figure 3 compares the micron distribution for the NZWTA merino profile and Australian merino auction volumes in 2024-25. The New Zealand merino clip is finer, with a broader micron tail.
As mentioned earlier, the other uncertainty is merino production. New Zealand wool export data is broken into four micron categories as shown in Table 1. In past decades the fine wool category would have provided a good estimate of merino production but wool has become finer, not only for merino but also for crossbred as Mecardo discussed in early December. This is where the estimations begin in earnest as some 11% of the New Zealand crossbred clip is 24.5 micron and finer and some 11% of the merino clip is 22.5 micron and broader. There is a lot of production in the 23-25 micron range, which has appeared in the past decade, where the merino and crossbred clips cross over.
In the export data the fine wool category accounts for 12% of exports in 2024-25. To allow for the substantial fine crossbred production requires allocating only half of the fine wool exports to the merino clip, which limits it to around 35-36,000 farm bales around 5-6% of the export volume. This compares to the northern tablelands in NSW (including Traprock) which produced 46,000 farm bales of merino wool last season.
What does it mean?
By dint of being a fine clip, the New Zealand merino clip is a valuable part of world merino production, despite its small size. It has followed the general pattern of becoming finer since 1990. With the relative strength of sheep meat prices, the New Zealand merino clip has begun to partly reverse the trends to finer wool with the development of a distinct broader micron tail in production. More detailed production data (such as a further breakup in the NZWTA micron profiles for broader merino and finer crossbred) would help this analysis.
Key Points
- Like the Australian merino clip, the New Zealand merino clip has fined up in recent decades.
- Unlike the Australian clip, the New Zealand merino clip has developed a broad micron tail of production, matching in a way the development of fine crossbred production in New Zealand.
- In terms of volume the New Zealand merino clip is appreciably smaller (estimated to be around 5-6% of New Zealand wool exports) than the NSW northern tablelands merino clip.
Click on figure to expand
Click on figure to expand
Click on figure to expand
Click on figure to expand
Data sources: NZWTA, AWEX, ICS, Mecardo
