Mohair Council Developing
Relationship With India

By Colleen Schreiber

SAN ANGELO — When people think of mohair, it’s unlikely that many think of a third world country like India being one of the largest processors of the diamond fiber. But it is.

Currently India processes more than half of the world’s adult mohair production. It is the third largest importer of American mohair, following the UK and South Africa, respectively.

The Mohair Council Of America is working on developing better ties with these Indian processors. Zane Willard, MCA executive director, recently returned from a trip to Ludhianna, India.

The majority of the mohair currently processed in India is sold in finished form to Russia. India primarily uses the coarser type mohair, fibers averaging from 35 to 38 microns. Initially, India bartered with Russia, trading goods for goods. Since the decentralization of the Russian government, however, Willard says the bulk of the business is now done in currency rather than goods.

Russia has on occasion bought mohair direct from the U.S. and the Russians have the ability to do their own processing, Willard adds, but the problem is money.

Indians, he says, would prefer to buy direct from the U.S. and in fact prefer American mohair because of its excellent uniformity and luster. High Indian import tarriffs restrict the price Indian processors can pay, but that pressure recently relieved somewhat. The import tariff has dropped from 52 percent to 40 percent and is expected to continue downward.

Indian mills, Willard noted, have money. "The companies we met with were like the ConAgras, where they own several different companies."

India has the capability of going from grease through to finished goods, Willard says, but they prefer to go from scouring to knitting.

"They have everything from hand knitting machines to some of the most modern computerized knitting machines. We were pleasantly surprised at the quality and craftsmanship of the finished goods."

The Indians are interested in introducing their products into the American market. MCA has agreed to show their products to various U.S. retail outlets. Gray and natural were the only colors of finished garments processed in the past, simply because those were the colors Russia asked for. The Indian mills are in the process of developing more colorful samples in several different styles.

On the domestic front, MCA is developing new types and new looks for mohair fabric for their 21st Century Collection.

The goal, Willard says, is to make mohair more than just a fashion fiber.

"We want to have the ability to target all walks of life with mohair fabric and products. Plus, if we can spread mohair out into other products so that it’s not so fashion sensitive, we can hopefully start to lesson the dramatic price fluctuations commonly associated with the mohair industry."

Dick Pactor, with MCA’s New York office, was given the responsibility of developing these new fabrics. All are blended fabrics and most contain no more than 25 to 30 percent mohair.

Hagar men’s clothing, a line commonly found in J.C. Penny’s, has already agreed to use a 50/50 mohair/wool blend fabric for a tweed blazer.

MCA is also developing a new spinning technique which places mohair to the inside of another fiber.

"That sounds a little sacrilegious because we’re talking about hiding the mohair, but we are looking for ways to utilize coarser mohair in finer gauged fabrics so that the coarseness isn’t up against the skin."

The big positive with the new yarn, dubbed "mocore," Willard says, is that the fabric will be wrinkle-resistant due to the resilency of the core mohair.

In addition to the line of domestic fabrics being developed, MCA is using some of its federal overseas market promotion funds to target designers in the UK with this new mohair collection.

Willard is optimistic about the mohair market and the future of the industry.

"The market will move itself if we just create the awareness and develop demand," he insists.