THE South African wool industry stands to lose millions of rands in lost revenue due to the halt of raw wool exports as a result of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in KwaZulu-Natal.
In a letter sent on Friday to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the South African Wool and Mohair Buyers' Association (Sawamba) and the Wool and Mohair Brokers' Association point out that a further R100million in revenue might be lost to the farming community. This follows the postponement of this week's auction of 10848 bales of wool with an estimated value of R65million.
Sawamba chairperson Paul Lynch said the association had not received correspondence about the situation, but that scientific assessments were still being conducted.
Should the situation continue into the next selling season, the potential total losses for the remainder of the 2010-11 season and the 2011-12 season would be in the region of R2345billion, which could cripple the wool trade, and subsequently put a large number of farmers out of business, the associations said.
These values are only for the wool portion of the farmers' income, but wool farmers quite often farm meat - mutton and beef - as well.
Sheep farmers leaving the industry would consequently also have a serious effect on food security.
Wool industry faces losses
THE South African wool industry stands to lose millions of rands in lost revenue due to the halt of raw wool exports as a result of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in KwaZulu-Natal.
In a letter sent on Friday to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the South African Wool and Mohair Buyers' Association (Sawamba) and the Wool and Mohair Brokers' Association point out that a further R100million in revenue might be lost to the farming community. This follows the postponement of this week's auction of 10848 bales of wool with an estimated value of R65million.
Sawamba chairperson Paul Lynch said the association had not received correspondence about the situation, but that scientific assessments were still being conducted.
Should the situation continue into the next selling season, the potential total losses for the remainder of the 2010-11 season and the 2011-12 season would be in the region of R2345billion, which could cripple the wool trade, and subsequently put a large number of farmers out of business, the associations said.
These values are only for the wool portion of the farmers' income, but wool farmers quite often farm meat - mutton and beef - as well.
Sheep farmers leaving the industry would consequently also have a serious effect on food security.
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