Spotlight On Carpet Wool

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32215, 6 February 1970, Page 7

Spotlight On Carpet Wool

Commenting recently on the acquisition of Marlin Carpets, Ltd. of Christchurch, by his company the chairman and managing director of U.E.B. Industries. Ltd, Mr J. Doig, said that the development of flocks of Drysdale sheep had high significance in the carpet manufacturing field and the availability of wool from these flocks, which were now compounding in size rapidly, would be of pro-

found benefit to his company. “The Drysdale fleece is ideal for carpets and is now generally accepted as being better than Scottish Blackface, large quantities of which have to be imported from Scotland to blend with our crossbred wools,” added Mr Doig. “Drysdale wool is being grown for Marlin on farms in both the North and South Islands and this output, combined with the eventual flow from U.E.B.’s own Drysdale farm near Daunevirke, will soon dramatically reduce current reliance on Scottish imports,” he said. He added that the acquisition of Marlin would now give New Zealanders complete control over the use of Drsydale wool as well as the development of the Drysdale flocks. At commercial carpet promotions held by U.E.B.’s carpet division in Sydney late last year about 300 top

architects, property developers and retailers were told how the company was using its computer facilities to plan a “population explosion” of Drysdales in a bid to make its carpet mills self sufficient. in this type of wool. At the promotions two leading retailers indicated that they would be able to guarantee carpet orders of $500,000 each for the coming year.

More than s2sm worth of carpet will be fitted to the floors of offices, shops, hotels, motels and institutions in Australia in the next year, according to the company’s latest news sheet. This is more than the value of New Zealand’s present total annual output of both commercial and domestic carpet. According to Mr H. Coleman, U.E.B. textiles sales manager in Australia, Australian milld have made a massive effort to lift output in the last 12 months. Output- of carpet has risen from an annual value of about sssm to nearly s7om, but Australia is still importing carpet at the rate of about s24m, so, Mr Harris says, it is not hard to see a bright future for carpet from New Zealand. In Sydney alone, architects and property developers are planning to put up nearly s6oom worth of new buildings costing more than

$lOO,OOO each, in which carpet could be used. These buildings will all be built in the next two or three years.