Despite cost savings and increased levels of efficiency in the British Wool Marketing Board's (BWMB) depots, prices for the 2017/18 wool crop are on average 13% down on the year.

Speaking at press briefing at North Sheep, Ian Buchanan, BWMB chairman said up to 7% or 3p per kg had been cut off the cost of handling wool in depots with similar cost reductions expected in the next few years, which would be passed on to producers.

However, while savings had been made, the global market for wool has proved more challenging over the past year.

“Our depots are working harder and more efficient and by making such savings we hope to be able to give more back to the producer in future,” said Mr Buchanan.

"We have had a good year considering the market as there there is only a 2% carryover of wool, and our last sale, we had a 96% clearance."

He highlighted China, which has switched to buying more quality, fashionable fine wools such as merino, which are worth between £7-£10 per kg and as a result, is taking less British wool which is made up predominantly of carpet wool. Over the past year, the amount of wool selling to China has reduced from 35% to 25%.

The other problem encountered over the past year has been the increased amount of yellowing or discoloured wool in the clip, mainly from Texel sheep – believed to be a result of a wet early spring – which Mr Buchanan said affects the quality and ultimately end price received by the producer.

Going forward, he said the BWMB would be concentrating more on selling more wool on the domestic market.

"More than 50% of UK wool goes into making carpets and floor coverings and we believe there is huge potential to grow this market, so we have a new marketing manager and a new marketing strategy to focus more on the end user. We're also seeing some positive signs that the Chinese market is looking to British wool for its carpet quality.

“We have a quality product with a fantastic story to tell. Woollen carpets last so much longer than other materials and are not flammable. They also have a natural bounceability, which you don't get with other types of floor covering," said Mr Buchanan.

And, with 60 different sheep breeds in the UK, British wool is particularly strong – perfect for quality carpets being naturally bulky and robust.

“British Wool is far superior to man-made fibres, maintaining excellent appearance and, of course, comes with our fantastic rural heritage that consumers can really appreciate,” he said.

However, while many guide prices remain on a par with last year, the most recent auction prices for wool are down 13% on the year on average.

On a more positive note, he said that although average auction prices were down, one encouraging sign was that for the first time ever, British wool was achieving the same price as New Zealand wool in US dollar terms, although admittedly, much of this is due to more favourable exchange rates

Latest wool values for the 2017/18 wool clip include Suffolk at £0.82 per kg; Texel at £0.90/kg; Mule, £0.85; Cheviot, £1.20; Swaledale, £0.40; Blackface, £0.60; Bluefaced Leicester, £3.15; Lleyn, £0.90.