Research papers

Definitions of Medullation Threshold Values used byDifferent Testing Methods The Precision of Dark & Medullated Fibre Testing of Noil Dark & Medullated Fibre Contamination in Merino Fleece from Damara Crossbred Lambs; Top & Noil Products Results from...

FAQs

AWTA Raw Wool are frequently approached by brokers, wool growers and others who have specific questions about the Company, its services and many other matters which relate to the Wool Industry. A broad selection of questions are available below: AWTA...

Status Report on Dark & Medullated Fibre Testing of Presale Core Samples and Review of the Detection Threshold

The Precision of Dark & Medullated Fibre Testing of Noil

Yield & Fibre Diameter

AWTA Raw Wool's key service is the independent sampling, testing and certifying of the Yield and Fibre Diameter of greasy wool before it is sold. Prior to the measurment of Yield and Fibre Diameter, a representative sample must be obtained. A core...

Dark & Medullated Fibre Risk Scheme

Australian Merino wool has enjoyed a high reputation and price premium for more than one hundred years because it produced wool tops with low levels of dark and medullated fibre contamination. Recently, early and later stage processors of Australian...

Dark & Medullated Fibre

The Dark Fibre Testing service offered by AWTA is targeted at white-wool growers who are attempting to manage contamination from exotic sheep breeds, or who wish to monitor the contamination in lots carrying a high risk of contamination. Two...

Accreditation

AWTA has a strong international reputation for Technical Excellence. AWTA submits its technical performance to external monitoring through an annual publication of Independent Laboratories Round Trials (ILRT) group performance to the International Wool...

Electronic Services

AWTA offers a wide range of online and electronic services including: Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) TOPMARK TM Benchmarking Combined Certificates & Objectively Matched Lots (OMLs) Electronic Certificates including Chinese translations Online...

Fleece Measurement

Samples of fleece wool that are taken from individual sheep are submitted by sheep breeders and wool growers for the routine measurement of Fibre Diameter (micron) using a Laserscan instrument. This instrument provides other data in conjunction with...

Wool Industry - Working Together to Future Proof Our Fibre

Five leading Australian wool industry groups are jointly working to develop a mechanism that sets the industry up for success into the future. Australian Council of Wool Exporters and Processors (ACWEP), Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX), Australian Wool...

2003 AWI On-Farm Fibre Measurement Instrument Evaluation Trial - Part 1 - Accuracy & Precision Trials

2003 AWI On-Farm Fibre Measurement Instrument Evaluation Trial - Part 2

Testing the Wool Clip - Chinese

Volume and Trends

Wool Production & Measurement Trends AWTA's database contains extensive information for the number of bales tested, the weight of wool tested and associated objective measurements. As almost every lot of wool sold in Australia is certified for Yield...

Brochures and Handbooks

As part of its services to its clients and other interested parties, AWTA publishes brochures and various handbooks featuring information in regard to: AWTA's services Explanations/Reviews of current standard test methods Research & development of new...

Staple Length & Strength

One of the most important characteristics for determining the value of greasy wool is the average fibre length that will be achieved when the wool has been processed or combed into wool top. This length is known as the Hauteur (fibre length in the Wool...

Seasonal conditions hold back wool production

The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee forecasts that Australian shorn wool production in 2017/18 will reach 338 mkg greasy. This is a 0.6% decline from the levels in 2016/17 and is largely the result of more difficult seasonal conditions...

Declaration Rates

Property Identification Code (PIC) transmission rates: AWTA stores PICs that are declared by sellers as part of the presale testing process. Only the code is stored in AWTA's database and it remains anonymous as we have no means of identifying or...

Services

AWTA Raw Wool provides independent and objective wool certification services. Major services provided are sampling, testing and certifying the yield, fibre diameter, vegetable matter content, staple length and staple strength of greasy wool before it...

Australian wool production to lift a little in 2017/18

The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee forecasts that shorn wool production will lift in 2017/18 to 345 mkg greasy, up by 1.4% compared with 2016/17. The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee forecasts that shorn wool...

Raw Wool Terms August 2013

Drought continues to push Australian wool production lower

The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee’s second forecast of shorn wool production in 2019/20 is 285 mkg greasy. This is a 5% decline on 2018/19 is due to lower sheep shorn numbers. The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee’s...

Australian shorn wool production forecast of 324 Mkg greasy in 2023/24

The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee (AWPFC) has updated its forecast of shorn wool production for the 2023/24 season. The fourth forecast is for production of 324 million kilograms (Mkg) greasy, 1.0% lower than the 2022/23 estimate and...

Scoured Wool

Scouring is the process of preparing and washing a batch of raw sheep's wool to remove impurities such as grease, dirt and suint. AWTA Raw Wool is able to perform the certified testing of scoured and carbonised wool for Wool Base, Vegetable Matter Base...

TOPMARK Benchmarking

TOPMARK is a free benchmarking service for processing mills and topmakers around the world. Independent trials have established there is a strong correlation between the predictive formulae used in this service and the processing performance of wool...

Australian wool production unchanged in 2014/15 and predicted to ease in 2015/16

The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee forecasts shorn wool production for 2014/15 at 341 mkg, the same as the 2013/14 level. This reflects a small drop in shorn sheep numbers offset by higher average fleece weights. The Committee’s first...

Australian wool production to ease in 2015/16

The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee forecasts that shorn wool production for 2015/16 will decline by 4.3% to 332 mkg. This reflects a 3.7% fall in shorn sheep numbers, a result of the continued high turn-off of sheep and lambs in...

Decline in Australian wool production in 2015/16 greater than expected

The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee forecasts that shorn wool production for 2015/16 will decline by 7.0% to 322 mkg. This reflects a combination of a 4.8% fall in shorn sheep numbers and a 2.3% drop in average fleece weights. The...

Wool production remains down in 2015/16

The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee (AWPFC) confirmed its forecast of shorn wool production for the 2015/16 season at 322 million kilograms greasy, a 7.0% decline on the 2014/15 season, as predicted at its meeting in December. The...

Wool production unchanged in 2016/17

The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee predicts that shorn wool production in 2016/17 will be at 325 mkg greasy, the same level as its revised estimate for the 2015/16 season. The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee predicts...

Excellent seasonal conditions push Australian wool production higher in 2016/17

The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee forecasts that shorn wool production will lift by 2.2% to 332 mkg greasy in 2016/17. The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee forecasts that shorn wool production will lift by 2.2% to 332...

Australian Wool Production Higher

The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee forecasts that Australian shorn wool production in 2016/17 will reach 339 mkg greasy. This 4.3% increase from 2015/16 is largely the result of excellent seasonal conditions in many areas resulting in...

Fleece Measurement Service Request (Yield, Micron, L&S, Colour)

Australian wool production impacted by tough season

The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee’s updated forecast of shorn wool production in 2018/19 is 305 mkg greasy, down by 10.8% from 2017/18. Continuing dry conditions in New South Wales, Queensland, northern Victoria, east Gippsland and...

Drought continues to impact Australian wool production

The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee forecasts that Australian shorn wool production for 2018/19 will be 298 mkg greasy. This is a 12.7% decline from the levels in 2017/18 and reflects the continuing drought conditions across large...

Australian shorn wool production stabilises in 2020/21

The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee’s second forecast of shorn wool production in 2020/21 is 280 mkg greasy, down 1.1% on 2019/20. The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee’s second forecast of shorn wool production in...

Australian shorn wool production stabilises as fleece weights rise

The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee’s third forecast of shorn wool production for 2020/21 is 287 mkg greasy, up 1.1% on 2019/20. Favourable seasonal conditions in most wool producing regions, except Western Australia and Queensland,...

Shorn wool production increases due to improved season

The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee’s fourth forecast of shorn wool production in 2020/21 is 290 mkg greasy. This is a 2.1% increase on the 284 mkg estimate for 2019/20 as key wool growing regions experience favourable seasonal...

Shorn wool production moves higher

The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee’s second forecast of shorn wool production in 2021/22 is 310 Mkg greasy, up 5.2% on 2020/21. Widespread rainfall throughout many key wool producing regions augurs well for a good spring season. Both...

Australian shorn wool production continues a steady increase

The latest Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee’s forecast of shorn wool production for 2021/22 is 314 Mkg greasy, up 6.5% on 2020/21. Most key wool producing regions continue to enjoy favourable seasonal conditions which has boosted per...

Shorn wool production increases as the run of good seasons continue

The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee’s second forecast of shorn wool production for 2022/23 is 340 Mkg greasy, up 4.9% on 2021/22. The continuing La Niña conditions have set up a very positive spring season in key wool producing...

Australian shorn wool production forecast of 340 Mkg greasy for 2022/23

The latest Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee’s forecast of shorn wool production for 2022/23 remains at 340 Mkg greasy, up 5.0% on the 324 Mkg greasy estimate for 2021/22. The latest Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee’s...

About AWTA Raw Wool

AWTA Raw Wool provides independent and objective wool certification services. AWTA Raw Wool's major services are sampling, testing and certifying the yield, fibre diameter, vegetable matter content, staple length and staple strength of greasy wool...

Equipment Manufacturing

AWTA Raw Wool manufactures or subcontracts the manufacturing of most of the equipment that is used in its laboratories. Much of this is specialised equipment that cannot be obtained from other sources. AWTA is the largest supplier of wool testing...

Australian shorn wool production forecast for 2024/25 revised down to 279.4 Mkg greasy

The latest Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee’s forecast of shorn wool production for 2024/25 is 279.4 Mkg greasy, a 12.0% decrease on the 2023/24 estimate. • The latest Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee’s forecast of shorn...