{"id":256807,"date":"2026-01-29T01:27:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T01:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/256807\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T01:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T01:27:09","slug":"wool-sector-overhaul-pgg-wrightson-winds-up-napier-auction-operations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/256807\/","title":{"rendered":"Wool sector overhaul: PGG Wrightson winds up Napier auction operations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe amount of shearable sheep in the world and in New Zealand is at a record low, which also means the volumes of wool that are coming forward to be traded are also at a record low.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shearer said the company\u2019s previous owner, Williams and Kettle, held its first Napier auction in 1880.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a long heritage which we\u2019re very proud of, but the industry is changing significantly, and we recognise that we need to change with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the team of 20 in Napier would not be subject to job losses, but they were disappointed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are ready for the challenge and wanting to do what\u2019s best for our loyal sheep farmers, and so understanding the bigger picture of the industry changing and us needing to change is the overarching thought.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut understandably, some people are disappointed to see the end of an era up in Napier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further wool industry consolidation<\/p>\n

High shearing costs, low profitability and challenging market conditions were driving a decline in the number of sheep in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

StatsNZ figures showed there were 6 million fewer sheep in the decade to June<\/a> last year, falling 21% to 23.6m sheep.<\/p>\n

Last year, there were a number of structural changes within the sector, too.<\/p>\n

In September, the new Wool Alliance was established between groups Campaign for Wool NZ, Wool Impact, Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand and Beef + Lamb NZ.<\/p>\n

It aimed to collaborate and develop a long-term strategy for the viability of the sector.<\/p>\n

Then in October, major carpet manufacturer Bremworth announced it entered into a new ownership agreement with Floorscape, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mohawk Industries<\/a>, the world\u2019s largest flooring company.<\/p>\n

The deal with the United States-based company, which already owned brands Godfrey Hirst and Feltex, would consolidate carpet manufacturing into a single owner, but it was still subject to regulatory approvals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the months prior, under new leadership, the listed company abandoned its commitment from 2020 to use only woollen fibres<\/a> over synthetic fibres.<\/p>\n

Christchurch to host PGG auctions from May<\/p>\n

Shearer said Christchurch was selected as it could attract the greatest number of buyers, including international buyers with access to the airport.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to get growers\u2019 wool in front of the most possible buyers to look at the wool and to get as many buyers as we can in the room to compete for the wool.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe it\u2019s in the best interests of our growers.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said its North Island wool would continue to be scoured and stored in Napier, but samples would be shipped down to Christchurch for the sales.<\/p>\n

PGG\u2019s new system will begin in May.<\/p>\n

\"PGGPGG Wrightson head of wool Rachel Shearer. Photo \/ PGG Wrightson<\/p>\n

Wools of NZ to follow suit<\/p>\n

Another broker, farmer-owned co-operative Wools of New Zealand, also held auctions in Napier and Christchurch on behalf of its growers.<\/p>\n

It announced this week that it will also move to a single national auction system, as PGG was set to do.<\/p>\n

Chief executive John McWhirter said structural change was necessary for the sector to remain viable.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur growers also expect us to be proactive and to help lead changes that support a strong and sustainable future for New Zealand wool,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It will discuss the changes with wool growers in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

– RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe amount of shearable sheep in the world and in New Zealand is at a record low, which…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256808,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1978,138,28205,3607,111,139,69,26859,5256,63550,12975,28206,810,18980,12970,60104],"class_list":["post-256807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-auction","tag-business","tag-monique","tag-napier","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-operations","tag-overhaul","tag-pgg","tag-sector","tag-steele","tag-up","tag-winds","tag-wool","tag-wrightson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}