Some of them have been buying New Zealand wool for 30 years.
Wool Impact, an organisation set up to revitalise strong wool, is hosting seven leaders from five wool processing companies in India’s leading wool manufacturing city of Bikaner, in the state of Rajasthan.
The small group, which includes NZ Wool Services International India chief executive Dhiraj Bilandani, is in Christchurch until today.
Yesterday their itinerary included the PGG Wrightson wool auction and a farm in Canterbury.
India and China are the top two buying nations of New Zealand strong wool, taking about 25% of exports, worth about $77 million.
The Indian buyers’ visit follows the New Zealand-India free trade agreement being signed last month.
Wool Impact chief executive Andy Caughey said six of the seven processing leaders had never been in New Zealand before, despite some of them buying wool for 25 to 30 years.
They were seeing the farming systems and the care and attention that went into the sheep and harvesting wool on farms, he said.
‘‘This is the first time they have been on a farm, seen a sheep shorn, touched a New Zealand sheep upfront — so their belief in what we are doing has just been so accentuated and this should have happened years ago.
‘‘At the end of this we will have established some really special long-term relationships that will be supportive of our sector for a long time.’’
The wool processors were buying major volumes, probably close to 50% of nearly 10,000 tonnes going to India a year.
India was looking to grow its textile sector and build stronger supply systems globally.
‘‘What they have indicated to us is to get closer to farms, farmers and farm grower groups so they can have that traceability and transparency back to source and also the ability to tell the New Zealand story because they see the richness and depth of what we have got here.’’
This was the beginning of a value chain connecting farmers to brands and markets, Mr Caughey said.
Commercial opportunities were expected to move from commodity buying to transactions linked to farmers and farmer groups.
Deals were being inked with their exporters during the visit.
Strong wool is in short supply as national sheep numbers decline and index clean wool prices reached $6.30 a kilogram at the last Christchurch auction.
Mr Caughey said the group was looking for access to wool volumes to supply customers as well as stable prices, wool quality and being able to source wool traced back to farms.
He said they were prepared to pay high prices to keep farmers profitable, but did not want volatility.
They were seeking wool backed by the National Farm Assurance Programme with wool sourcing, traceability, the environment and animal welfare standards, he said.
‘‘India is changing dramatically as a country and they are increasing their accreditation requirements and are looking at traceability and transparency and they see a growing demand for natural fibres, as people become increasingly aware of petrochemicals.’’
