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Report: Anna Vidot and Rose Grant
Tasmanian specialty fibre producers will be forced to send their goods overseas for processing, or shut up shop, when Australia's only small scouring plant closes at the end of June.The CSIRO facility in Victoria processes fibre for smaller scale and niche producers, with an estimated 1000 businesses relying on the service.The CSIRO says it is still holding discussions about the future of the plant, but producers claim they have been told to start looking elsewhere for the processing services.One of those who relies on the CSIRO facility is Elaine McDonald. She has been selling woollen garments at Hobart's Salamanca Market for over two decades, but she says the future of the business is now in doubt."You can not have the wool spun at a mill if it's not scoured, and there is nowhere else in Australia that will take small lots of wool or coloured wool, natural coloured wool."The Australian alpaca industry has also be forced to send fleeces overseas.Matt McAninley from Australian Alpaca Fleece Limited says the CSIRO scourer has become integral to the development of the rare natural fibre industries in Australia and its closure will impact upon thousands of individuals and small businesses, as well as a small number of large Australian companies."We've now had to look at alternatives, which involves sending fleece to New Zealand. "It's not ideal because it's certainly quite a significant increase in costs. But we're also now sending fleece to Peru which is greasy fleece and we've managed to have the requirements changed. We weren't able to send greasy fleece into Peru but we are now able to," he said.
In this report: Elaine McDonald, In Sheep's Clothing; Matt McAninley, Australian Alpaca Fleece Limited
Tasmanian specialty fibre producers will be forced to send their goods overseas for processing, or shut up shop, when Australia's only small scouring plant closes at the end of June.The CSIRO facility in Victoria processes fibre for smaller scale and niche producers, with an estimated 1000 businesses relying on the service.The CSIRO says it is still holding discussions about the future of the plant, but producers claim they have been told to start looking elsewhere for the processing services.One of those who relies on the CSIRO facility is Elaine McDonald. She has been selling woollen garments at Hobart's Salamanca Market for over two decades, but she says the future of the business is now in doubt."You can not have the wool spun at a mill if it's not scoured, and there is nowhere else in Australia that will take small lots of wool or coloured wool, natural coloured wool."The Australian alpaca industry has also be forced to send fleeces overseas.Matt McAninley from Australian Alpaca Fleece Limited says the CSIRO scourer has become integral to the development of the rare natural fibre industries in Australia and its closure will impact upon thousands of individuals and small businesses, as well as a small number of large Australian companies."We've now had to look at alternatives, which involves sending fleece to New Zealand. "It's not ideal because it's certainly quite a significant increase in costs. But we're also now sending fleece to Peru which is greasy fleece and we've managed to have the requirements changed. We weren't able to send greasy fleece into Peru but we are now able to," he said.
In this report: Elaine McDonald, In Sheep's Clothing; Matt McAninley, Australian Alpaca Fleece Limited
1 comment:
There is a wool scourer in Geelong in Melbourne at:-
Clyde Wool Scouring Pty Ltd
8-10 Gravel Pits Rd
Geelong 3220 Vic
Phone: 61 3 5221 5196
Fax: 61 3 5221 1841
Have they tried there?
Justaconsumer
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