Bulgaria
RWS tops a best seller accredited with Interwoollabs. It has a production capacity of 6 million kg tops per year. ‘80% of our production is for Lempriere Group and 20% is on commission basis’, comments Eric Durand. ‘New, recently installed nsc combs that are more efficient have been a boon to our operation. Proximity to port and excellent road connections to all European countries and close to fashion brands enable us to provide quick deliver time within Europe.
Eric Durand with RWS certified tops
T
he Covid-19 pandemic has seen a major disruption to the wool industry from wool grower to retailer. It is very difficult to predict how the industry will re-emerge from this crisis, but the issues of quality, traceability and certification will still be important factors for buyers of wool products’, says Eric Durand CEO Lempriere Wool. ‘Prior to covid we saw a demand for Responsible Wool Standards (RWS) certified wool tops increase steadily. 20% of our production is now allocated to RWS certified tops’, he remarks. ‘If the level of demand recovers to pre-Covid-19 levels quickly we can see a shortage of specific wool types’. 60 | wool2yarnglobal 2020
Lempriere Wool sources RWS wool from certified Australian growers. ‘There are still a limited number of certified farms in Australia and so far we can meet the demand’, he says, ‘but as this demand increases there could be a shortage of RWS certified wool. We hope that as growers receive a premium for this certification more growers of merino wool, not just in Australia, but around the wool, will become RWS Accredited’. As an independent and widely accepted certification RWS is preferred by many and European spinners in particular. Lempriere Bulgaria can also provide GOTS and EU Flower and is fully
Lempriere opened its topmaking plant in Sliven, Bulgaria in 2016 and today it is a well established supplier wool tops to major brands worldwide. Operations are mainly focused on processing 17.5 - 25 micron wool from around the world but mostly from Australia, South Africa and South America. ‘Of course we can be in completely new territory post Covid-19. The market has been happy to accept USD12 for 19.5 micron and USD11.5 for 21 micron and if wool prices stay within this range we feel that the demand for wool in this micron range will continue to be strong and fashion brands will continue to use it in their luxury apparel’, Eric Durand comments. ‘Wool cannot be easily replaced by synthetics or other fibres and high end consumers appreciate this fact’. Eric Durand can be contacted at Eric.Durand@lempriere.bg
