Wool output in South Africa, the world’s second-biggest producer of the variety used for clothes, may surge about 50 percent from the lowest in a century as local prices climbed amid global supply that’s at a 70-year low, the head of the main industry body said.
Production by South Africa, as well as the neighboring countries of Namibia and Lesotho, could climb to 75 million kilograms (165 million pounds) in the next three years as consumers’ demand for apparel made from the fiber increases, Cape Wools Chief Executive Officer Louis de Beer said.