Western Wool was founded by Ian Pinniger in 1972 and was originally based out of Parkes in New South Wales as a small independent wool procurement business.  In 1997, Western Wool was purchased by the Byrne family, who steadily grew the business over 12 years to service a broad group of over 2000 wool producers across country New South Wales and Southern Queensland. F urther expansion into Southern New South Wales took place in 2008 with the development of a modern storage and testing facility in Wagga Wagga.

In 2009, Queensland Cotton, a wholly owned subsidiary of Olam International Limited, acquired Western Wool to augment its existing network of suppliers and customers, logistics and marketing strengths. The Western Wool business continued to grow rapidly thanks to a clearly defined vision and well executed strategy that supports the company’s commitment to investing in the Australian wool industry.

At the time of acquisition, Queensland Cotton’s CEO Richard Haire said “This business unit sits comfortably alongside our established footprint in rural commodity marketing and the aim is to provide an integrated full-service link between wool growers and end-users.”

Queensland Cotton began buying and exporting wool in late 2008 and consistently feature in the top 5 buyers at weekly auctions in Melbourne and Sydney. On the Auction Buyers List released at the end of the 2009/10 wool selling season, Queensland Cotton purchased just shy of 125,000 bales placing them at number 3 on the list. In addition, Queensland Cotton purchased a further 75,000 bales outside the auction system which saw them export in excess of 200,000 bales for the year establishing themselves as a major force in the exportation of Australian wool.

The integrated wool desk now provides a range of marketing options for wool growers including direct export pricing, hedge-to-arrive contracts as well as traditional auction services in both Sydney and Melbourne.

Western Wool will continue to invest in country communities, with growers now having the benefit of direct links to exporters and millers through Queensland Cotton's export desk and experienced staff including the current Australian Council of Exporters President - Michael Avery.