Raw wool import value surged 34% year-on-year, while exports inched up just 2%—the first five months of 2026 data for China's wool textile industry draws a clear dividing line. As domestic mills accelerate stockpiling and global wool prices push up import totals, emerging markets' ravenous demand for semi-finished products is becoming a new engine for export growth.
Import Side: Dual Pressure from Stockpiling and Price Pass-Through
China Customs data paints a picture of 'stable volume, rising price' in raw material procurement. From January to May 2026, total imports of wool textile materials and products reached $1.71 billion, up 26.65% year-on-year. Core category—raw wool and primary processed wool—saw import value hit $1.1 billion, a growth rate of 34.04%. However, total import volume of 130,000 tons was nearly flat year-on-year, indicating that price increases were the main driver.
This suggests international wool spot prices have entered an upward channel. For domestic mills, cost-side pressure is building. Yet companies continue to increase purchases, reflecting underlying optimism about future demand. The 'buy more as prices rise' behavior signals that the industry expects sustained downstream orders.
From a sourcing perspective, traditional suppliers like Australia and New Zealand still dominate, but shares from South Africa and South America are quietly rising. The global wool trade pattern is shifting from single-source dependency to diversified supply, and Chinese importers are actively broadening procurement channels to hedge geopolitical risks.
Export Side: Emerging Markets Drive Semi-Finished Growth
In contrast to the import boom, export performance was modest. From January to May, exports of wool textile materials and products totaled $4.35 billion, up just 2.29%. In RMB terms, exports even dipped 1.01% due to currency fluctuations.
But structural highlights cannot be ignored. Wool and cashmere raw material exports grew 5.11% and 6.97% respectively, reflecting rising premium pricing power for high-end natural fibers. More critically, emerging market orders surged:
- Wool top exports to India reached 9,086 tons, up 77.22% year-on-year
- Wool top exports to Turkey hit 1,165 tons, up 54.69%
India and Turkey are becoming key destinations for global textile capacity relocation. Spinning mills in South Asia and the Middle East are expanding, releasing concentrated demand for semi-finished wool tops. For Chinese wool processing companies, this represents a stable, high-margin incremental channel—wool tops are technically intensive semi-finished products with higher added value and stronger customer stickiness.
Supply Chain Transmission: From Raw Materials to Semi-Finished to End Products
The current wool textile industry shows a clear three-stage transmission: rising upstream wool prices → midstream processors (scouring, combing) face higher costs but full order books → downstream fabric and garment makers face raw material price pressure.
Import data reflects midstream stockpiling behavior; export data shows output from midstream capacity. Both rising in tandem indicates domestic processing is running at high utilization. However, finished garment exports have not grown at the same pace, suggesting price pressure has not fully passed to consumers, potentially squeezing margins in intermediate links.
For buyers, now is a critical window to lock in long-term contracts. The upward trend in wool prices is unlikely to reverse in the short term, and the expansion cycle in India and Turkey will last at least 2-3 years, providing a fundamental support for semi-finished demand.