Photo: supplied
Prices for New Zealand's cross-bred, or strong, wool clip have climbed to levels not seen for seven years prompting cautious optimism that the struggling sector is rebounding.
In recent years it has cost farmers more to shear their sheep than the wool was worth.
But PGG Wrightson Wool sales manager Dave Burridge said over the last few months prices have continued to rise with strong buying interest from India.
He warned it was off a low base so there was still some way to go but said well-prepared clips were moving well.
"We're seeing that the price being paid for the wool is covering the cost of shearing now so that's great news for farmers."
Burridge said in recent years with the softer prices many skimped on wool-shed quality-related jobs to compensate but it was time to shift that focus.
"We're breaking new ground in markets and it's been the better prepared, the better styles, better colour, whiter wools that have led the charge.
"The better wools are fetching 70 cents more per-kilo-greasy than the lesser prepared fleeces."
Historically there has not been such a price difference between the different styles so there was definitely an advantage for wool growers who have a bigger focus on preparing the wool to the best of their ability, Burridge said.
China, a major market for New Zealand wool, has been quiet, but that too was changing.
The good steady price rise, without large ups and downs, would help rebuild confidence for sheep farmers which were doing it tough, he said.