Wool auctions saved in Napier as small broker keeps legacy alive
Kells Wool operations manager Henry Kells, left, and director Richard Kells, right, at the wool auction last week in Napier. Photo / Supplied
Napier wool auctions have been saved.
The auctions have been held in the city for roughly 150 years, but looked set to conclude this month in a “bittersweet milestone”.
That was because the country’s two biggest wool brokers - PGG Wrightson and Wools of New Zealand - decided to
Those major brokers previously attended both the Napier and Christchurch “open cry” wool auctions on alternating weeks, but attended their final auction in Napier last month.
PGG Wrightson Wool called it a “bittersweet milestone for our industry”.
Their withdrawal was expected to draw the curtains on Napier auctions.
Enter, Kells Wool.
Napier-based Kells Wool is one of the smaller brokers that has long attended the local auctions and decided to organise its own wool auction last Tuesday at Hawke’s Bay Club on Marine Parade.
Director Richard Kells said the auction went well, and the wool fetched higher prices than at other recent auctions.
About 400 bales of wool were sold.
Comparatively, at previous Napier auctions, about 10,000 bales could be sold (across all brokers).
Kells said there was a good turnout of buyers/exporters, which showed strong demand.
“At first I was thinking I’d follow along and move south,” Kells said, of sending wool samples to the Christchurch auction.
“It seemed that was where the market would be.
“But it was the buyers who helped me change my mind.”
Many buyers and exporters have representatives in the North Island, making it convenient for them to attend the Napier auction.
The cost of freight via the Cook Strait ferry, which has climbed with fuel prices, and transit times sending samples to the South Island were other factors in keeping the Napier auction.
Kells said he would continue holding the auctions fortnightly, with a short break during October and April, and remarked “we are staying”.
“[Last week’s auction] gives confidence that a small independent catalogue can achieve the best results in the market.”
Kells said farmers he represented were rapt that an “open cry” auction remained in the North Island.
“The growers have been very supportive,” he said.
“They like that closeness; they can come in and watch their wool be sold if they like.
“That is where keeping it local is pretty good.”
An “open cry” wool auction is a popular way to sell wool, and is considered by many as the best way to buy and sell wool.
Other methods include online sales or direct contracts with farmers.
It comes as wool prices are on the rise, after years of low prices.
In 2021, according to the Fusca index, strong wool (clean) was priced under $2 per kg. It is now over $5/kg.
“For those of us that are still in it, sheep are turning into a really good earner,” Kells said.
Other small brokers - who sell wool on behalf of farmers - could also take part in the Napier auctions in future.
Hawke’s Bay is an important region for New Zealand’s wool industry.
It boasts two of the country’s three wool scourers (owned by WoolWorks NZ), a large quantity of wool is exported out of Napier Port, and PGG Wrightson has a huge wool storage facility in Ahuriri.
Wool-carpet manufacturer Bremworth also has a plant in Napier.