One of the big challenges to the wool market in Australia is the growing demand for non-mulesed wool, with premiums for non-mulesed RWS-accredited wool rising since mid-2024 for both merino and non-merino, combing and carding wool. This article takes a look at the non-mulesed and RWS proportions of the Australian wool clip.
Mecardo looked at RWS premiums for merino and non-merino wool a couple of weeks ago (see article here). In this article, we look at the proportion of non-mulesed wool in the Australian merino and non-merino clip sold at auction sales over time and across micron categories (last season) and also show comparable proportions for RWS-accredited wool (by definition a subset of the non-mulesed volumes).
Figure 1 shows the proportion of merino wool which was declared as ceased and non-mulesed from 2008-09 through to 2024-25, as well as the proportion sold which was accredited to the RWS quality scheme (see more here) The proportion of the Australian merino clip which was non-mulesed started around 6% (in clean volume terms), reaching 18% last season. RWS-accredited wool was effectively zero prior to 2020-21. In 2021-22 it reached 1.9%, jumping to 6% in 2022-23 on the back of big premiums in 2021-22, before stabilising around 6% in response to smaller premiums from mid-2022 to mid-2024.
Figure 2 repeats the analysis for non-merino wool sold at auction. The proportion declared as non-mulesed started around 7% in 2008-09, finishing at 42% last season. In 2020-21 some 3.4% of the non-merino clip was accredited to RWS, rising to 8% in 2022-23, before gradually falling in recent seasons in response to smaller premiums.
The gap between non-mulesed and RWS proportions in merino and non-merino wool shows plenty of scope for RWS volumes to increase at the current levels of non-mulesed wool in Australia.
As our December 2023 article (see article here) showed, the proportion of RWS accreditation is non-uniform across micron categories (nor is the non-mulesed proportion). Figure 3 shows the proportion of merino wool sold at auction by micron category (14 through 23 micron) which was declared non-mulesed and the proportion accredited to RWS, as well as the proportion the micron category made up of sales (the micron distribution) for last season.
Basically, the proportion of non-mulesed and RWS wool falls as the merino fibre diameter increases. Fourteen-micron wool (which accounts for only 0.05% of the merino clip) had 62% declared as non-mulesed and 35% accredited to RWS. Eighteen-micron, the largest category, accounting for 24.5% of sales, had 18% declared non-mulesed and 5.4% RWS. Twenty-one-micron, accounting for 6% of the merino clip, had 11% declared non-mulesed and 1.6% RWS.
Figure 4 repeats the Figure 3 analysis for non-mulesed wool. Unlike merino, there is little relationship between micron and the proportion of non-mulesed wool sold for non-merino. At the very fine end of the non-merino micron distribution, there is a higher level of RWS accreditation, but this covers only 2% of the volume sold. Otherwise, there is little relationship between micron and the level of RWS accreditation, although it falls off at the very broad end of the distribution, which accounts for only 1% of non-merino sales.
What does it mean?
As a general rule broader merino wool comes from mixed cropping and pastoral regions where labour availability and efficiency are key issues. This is reflected in the lower rates of non-mulesed wool for these non-micron categories. Mulesing remains a thorny issue for merino production in Australia. If RWS premiums remain at attractive levels they should bring extra supply into the market at current non-mulesed levels, for both merino and non-merino wool. That will test the premiums.
Key Points
- In clean volume terms 18% of the merino clip sold at auction was declared CM-NM (non-mulesed) in 2024-25. For non-merino the proportion was 42%.
- A large gap exists between non-mulesed and RWS accreditation levels offering the prospect of increased RWS accreditation at the current non-mulesed rates (depending on the premiums).
- Merino rates of non-mulesed and RWS accreditation remain heavily skewed to the finer micron categories.
- There is no comparable skew in the main non-merino micron categories.
Click on figure to expand
Click on figure to expand
Click on figure to expand
Click on figure to expand
Data sources: ICS, AWEX, Mecardo
