Wool production grows on low -level needs

In connection with the development of sheep breeding, wool production in Azerbaijan increased 54% compared to 2000. However, breeders have difficulty with marketing materials.

In 2013, Azerbaijan produced 16 800 tons of greasy wool. It is 400 tons (2 %) more than in 2012. Most of the product was sold on the market: it is used for sewing household bedding. Small shops operate, buying wholesale unwashed wool and producing its primary processing. After that the commodity price increases from 0.70 AZN to 4-8 AZN, depending on the type of wool. Farmers claim that the wool is sometimes not realized and goes rotten in the warehouses.

In the Soviet period the Yevlakh woolen mill recycled per year up to 10,000 tons of raw materials. Part of the raw material came from other Soviet republics. The plant was only a link in a huge chain: after washing the wool was sent to Russian enterprises. After the collapse of the Soviet Union the cooperation was destroyed, Turan was told by the Deputy Head of the Livestock Production, Processing, Breeding and Pasture Department of the Agriculture Ministry, Farhad Eminov. According to him, the government is interested in increasing the production of wool and its processing up to final production. Soft loans can be given to organize small shops. However, the private sector is not interested in this field.

In the early 2000s the Yevlakh woolen mill was converted into a corporation. The controlling stake was sold at a voucher auction. But it did not restore its activity. "The situation will not change as long as China offers cheaper synthetic fibers. Producing wool fibers today is not cost-effective. For the same reason Baku Wool Plant is idle," Turan was told by the board of JSC Yevlakh Yun. In addition, the company believes that the restoration of the factory’s activity is hampered by the lack of points to store wool.

In previous years, part of the wool produced in Azerbaijan was exported. In 2011 delivered abroad were 14.2 tons ($ 69,200), and in 2012 - 27.6 tons ($ 116,000) of purified sheep wool. In the past year, according to the State Customs Committee, exports were suspended. In 2013, the first time in 3 years textile enterprises in Azerbaijan began to import woolen fabrics. They imported 323,100 square meters of fabric with more than 85% of wool in the fiber composition. -08B-