The cost of imported wool rose by more than 40% in eight months. According to China Customs data, the average import price of wool and early-processed wool reached US$8.77 per kilogram in January-August 2026, up 41.73% year-on-year, while import volume grew only 4.56%. This means that of the 48.19% increase in import value, the overwhelming majority came from price rather than demand. For downstream wool textile enterprises, this is not a demand expansion story — it is a stress test of cost pass-through.
Import Side: Price Is the Only Protagonist
Total imports of wool textile raw materials and products reached US$3.14 billion in the first eight months, up 33.67% year-on-year. Wool and early-processed wool accounted for US$1.87 billion, nearly 60% of the import basket. The modest 4.56% volume growth to 213,000 tonnes suggests that domestic mills neither significantly cut purchases nor actively built inventory — a posture of passive cost acceptance.
The August monthly data deserves attention. The average import price of wool fell 7.5% month-on-month to US$8.96 per kilogram, and other animal fibers also saw a 7.5% sequential decline. After months of rapid escalation, raw material prices showed a阶段性 softening. For buyers, this may be an observation window, but a single month's sequential change is insufficient to confirm a trend reversal. The Australian auction market's subsequent trajectory will be the deciding factor.
Export Side: The Divergent Logic of Price Offsetting Volume
On the export side, wool textile raw materials and products totaled US$8.56 billion in January-August, up 6.82% year-on-year, showing clear divergence between volume and price. Except for wool woven garments, whose export volume fell 9.49% year-on-year to 11.06 million pieces, all other major wool product categories saw volume growth. On the price front, export prices for early-processed and mid-to-downstream wool products fluctuated between -5% and 6% year-on-year — broadly moderate.
The real pillar of the export basket is wool woven garments. Their average export price reached US$48.65 per piece, up 18.23% year-on-year. The unit price increase offset the revenue gap left by declining shipment volumes, indicating that overseas buyers still have willingness to pay for mid-to-high-end wool garments. But whether this logic can persist depends on two variables: whether raw material costs can stabilize at current levels, and whether end markets can accept higher retail pricing.
From the perspective of industrial clusters, wool textile hubs in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong are generally adopting small-batch, multi-frequency procurement strategies to reduce inventory write-down risk. This operating model works during price upswings, but if raw material prices fall rapidly, high-priced inventory accumulated earlier could become a profit drag.
Where the Cost Pass-Through Breaks Down
The core contradiction facing the industry is not complicated: raw material price increases far exceed downstream product pricing space. Wool import prices rose 41.73%, while export prices for most mid-to-downstream wool products fluctuated only between -5% and 6%. The gap can only be absorbed by corporate profits.
For factories, this means two things. First, enterprises focused purely on early processing and low-value-added products face the greatest profit compression, as these products have virtually no pricing power. Second, enterprises capable of converting wool into high-unit-price garments or differentiated fabrics have actually gained a pricing window in this cycle. The 18.23% unit price increase for wool woven garments is evidence.
For buyers, the current priority is to reassess suppliers' cost structures. If a supplier's product line is concentrated in early processing, its quotes may face upward pressure in coming quarters. Conversely, suppliers with design and branding capabilities have relatively more room for price negotiation.