Wool Business......there is money to be made!

Knitting Needles and Knitting wool

Moro, Kinangop and other cold places are key zones in the country for wool production. Having visited a couple farmers in Nakuru area I do know that the wool business is big in Kenya. If you go on Alibaba you will find 3 or so adverts on Kenyan wool which is greasy and at best doesn’t look appealing. The fact is, this is the minority of the market segment in wool trading in Kenya

In Nakuru I have discovered than Indian Merchants are controlling the wool trading and market. They sponsor middle men who then buy the wool from the farmers at low prices; they wash the wool and sell it to large wool yarns and carpet manufacturers abroad without using Alibaba. The middle man sell the wool at 200 shillings a kilo in the black market (this is where I get my wool from) so the farmer get at most 100 shillings a Kilo. This amounts to less £1 per kilo of wool. The same kilo is then sold at $10-$20 once shipped out. This is more like 800 Shillings for a kilo.  The Indian merchant sells the wool in tons. For a single ton (1000 kgs) he stands to make a profit of approx 700 shilling a kilo and less the shipping of say 50 shillings a kilo, he would still make 650,000 per a ton of wool. Now this is some good money for an investment of 200,000 shilling. Clearly you do need to obtain some documentation such as the Certificate of Animal health from the ministry of agriculture – but that only costs you 50 shilling a shipment. With the shipping cost being approx £4 a kilo by air and $600 per m3 then the guys do make even much more money that they are putting in the system.

As a result of this practice, they not only export the jobs abroad but also make it impossible for fair competition for wool in the country as they have a tight grip of the wool producing area.

A kilo of Merino wool goes for £12.20 wool off www.alibaba.com from China - and this is the cheapest in the market. Of course this is degreased, washed and combed wool ready for spinning and felting etc. Just think of it unwashed raw wool in kenya is going for £1.00 from the brokers meaning you can get it cheaper than that off the farmers directly ......i admit am crazy about wool, so this might not be for everyone.

combed wool socked in vinegar for 30 minutes ready for dyeing

raw washed wool ready for combing or carding.

The end product, hand dyed wool ready for spinning or felting

Have a look at www.etsy.com to find out how much wool goes for in UK and USA for the big demand by the hobbists.

also check out my other blog www.spunandknittedwool.blogspot.com on inspirations on how to process wool for the hobbist market.