Record price paid for New Zealand wool bale

By Boyd Champness

WHILE Australia considers itself the worlds dominant wool producer, a world record price of A$86,960 (£34,170) has been paid for a bale or 13.1-micron Merino fleece, from Mount Cook Station, New Zealand.

Only about 5% of New Zealands sheep are Merinos, with most farmers in the Land of the Long White Cloud producing coarser wool for industrial use such as carpet making.

Mount Cook Station owner Donald Burnett last year set a record for wool with a bale of 13.8-micron Merino wool, which sold for A$39,930 – equivalent to A$400 a kilogram.

Leading Italian weavers Loro Piana paid the top price.