SHEEP farmers in rural Australia waited more than half a century for wool prices to come roaring back, only to find there aren’t enough shearers to trim their golden fleeces.

“Once upon a time you could go down to the local pub and arrange for some fellas to come in and start almost immediately — those days are gone,” said Alan Rae, a wool producer in Bungunya, a town of about 200 people in Queensland state.

The industry shackles mean suppliers in Australia, which provides about 90 percent of the world’s exported fine-wool used in clothing manufacturing, are struggling to meet demand. That has forced some garment makers to sell at a loss or reduce their wool content.

Prices for very fine wool used for clothing hit a record high A$18.30 (US$14.4) per kg last week, thanks in large part to ferocious demand from Chinese garment makers.

That’s more than three times the price during the early 1990s when a massive oversupply led the government to offer indebted farmers A$2 for every sheep they shot.

The high prices coincide with the peak shearing season in some parts of Australia, but some in the industry think things are as good as they will get.

There are early signs of a stand-off between buyers and sellers emerging at wool auction houses, according to the country’s dominant wool storage and export house AWH. Weekly pass-in-rates have topped 10 percent in some states, double usual levels.

“Some of the sellers are putting too high a reserve on their wool and the buyers are obviously trying to keep the rate down,” said AWH chief executive Michael Jones.

Those who can shift their wool are still making hay. Unlike most agricultural commodities, wool can hold its value for many years if properly stored.(SD-Agencies)