Economic and climate presesures squeezing Argentina's wool and sheepmeat sectors

摘要

For a country best known for its beef, it may come as a surprise to many that Argentina's wealth was founded on the wool industry. From the mid 19th century onwards, emigrants flocked from Europe to partake in "wool fever". By the early 20th century it was vying with Australia for world dominance of the sheepmeat and wool sector. Starting in the 1960s the sector went into a steep decline due to internal political, economic and environmental reasons, as well as external lactors. Spurred by a more competitive exchange rale and growing world demand, the sector began to reverse this decline in 2002. Tough economic and environmental conditions during the past year have, however, halted the progression, creating a gloomy outlook for many producers, in the short-term at least.