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BIZCHINA / Center
China's wool imports surge 27% in first 7 months
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-21 14:22
China imported 202,000 tons of wool in the first seven months of this
year, up 26.8 percent on the same period of last year, the General
Administration of Customs said on Thursday.
The imports were valued at US$1.13 billion, up 61 percent, or US$5,619
per ton on average, up 27 percent.
Of the total imports, 128,000 tons, or 63.5 percent, came from Australia,
up 20.3 percent. The European Union supplied 14,000 tons, up 90.7 percent.
State-owned enterprises accounted for 86,000 tons, or 42.6 percent, of
the imports, while foreign-funded companies made up 64,000 tons, 31.8
percent.
Customs sources said the increase in imports was largely due to short
supply and mounting demand at home, as the global wool processing center
is shifting to China.
China processes more than 400,000 tons of wool a year, one third of the
world's total.
Growing imports have aggravated environmental concerns in the wool
processing industry, the sources warned.
The wool scouring and processing techniques result in different poisonous
chemicals being released in the waste water. However, many domestic
enterprises do not have advanced processing techniques and sound
environmental protection awareness.
The algae outbreak this June in the Taihu Lake, the nation's third
biggest freshwater lake in East China, was partly due to the discharge of
waste water from the huge number of wool processing mills located around
the lake, whose overall processing capacity accounted for 70 percent of
the nation's total.
The General Administration of Customs called on local wool enterprises to
update their technology, establish sound industry standards and reduce
the potential hazards for the environment.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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