Wool that piled up by tons in the hangars or on the floor of the farms for lack of finding takers.This is the sad reality that sheep farmers have faced all of France for several months.
In a context of health crisis and trade war with the United States, China, which imported 80% of French wool mainly for the American market, has ceased any exchange.
Sold 0.40 euros/kg
This fall in Chinese wool demand is catastrophic for the sector.
Not because of the shortfall it represents for breeders.
"The sale of wool does not even reimburse the mower.For mowing, you have to pay about 1.95 euros per sheep, which gives between 1 and 1.5kg of wool.Last year, the merchant bought the wool forty cents per kilo, "said Valentine Guérin, breeder at the Courmet Fermers, in Tourrettes-sur-Loup.
What concerns the sector is the future of stocks, a few weeks before the date of the next mowing, while wool of the last two years has not been sold.
What to do with all this wool, which, if it is not kept in good conditions, alters and loses its characteristics over time and according to climatic hazards (humidity, heat, gel) and therefore risks n'Be good to transform.
Curons, these braided canvas bags which let the wool breathe but protects it from humidity, come to miss.The merchant, when he came to pick up the curons filled with mowed wool, deposited empty curons for the next mowing.Today nothing circulates.However, the curon is a packaging specific to wool, it is not possible to keep it in other containers.
Destruction for lack of valuation
Failing to be valued, while the solutions to transform this raw material are numerous, wool will have to be transported to special incinerators, because wool burns to more than 560 degrees.Which represents an additional cost for breeders.
Especially since since 2016, "wool taken from a living or dead animal is the normal rate of 20% of VAT", against 5.5% for the purchase of raw materials intended for food use.A VAT that breeders are obliged to donate.
