That’s probably a bit to do with where the wool spinning (for garments) ends up happening, then the dying, then the garment making.
The problem for farmers is its good for the sheep in different parts of the year to have the wool taken off, but some years the margins can be so tight you’re almost paying to have the sheep shorn, the whole process barely breaks even.
There’s been a bunch of genetics research into self-shedding sheep for that reason, the flip from the 80s is that sheep in NZ is about meat now (for the most part) not wool.
Then why are wool products so expensive to the consumer?
That’s probably a bit to do with where the wool spinning (for garments) ends up happening, then the dying, then the garment making.
The problem for farmers is its good for the sheep in different parts of the year to have the wool taken off, but some years the margins can be so tight you’re almost paying to have the sheep shorn, the whole process barely breaks even.
There’s been a bunch of genetics research into self-shedding sheep for that reason, the flip from the 80s is that sheep in NZ is about meat now (for the most part) not wool.
My uneducated guess is that the raw material is only a fraction of the processing, manufacturing and distribution costs.