Key milestones in our history:
1991 - WSI was formed for the purpose of creating an independent company to market New Zealand wool worldwide and at that time was a wholly owned subsidiary of the New Zealand Wool Board.
1992 - WSI commenced trading - we are now the largest exporter of New Zealand wool, exporting in excess of 40% of the coarse wool clip and 30% of the total wool clip.
1994 - WSI acquired scouring operations at Kaputone and Whakatu.
1996 - The New Zealand Wool Board distributed all of the shares it held in WSI to nearly 14,000 wool-growers.
1997 - WSI issued 40 million new ordinary shares, the proceeds of which were partly used to commission a new three-metre scouring line and build a new storage complex at Kaputone.
1999 - 10% of Kaputone Wool Scour Limited and 50% of Whakatu Wool Scour Limited were sold to privately owned Auckland-based wool exporting company, RDWM.
2000 - Further share issue to raise capital.
2002 - 50% ownership of Rural Wool Link.
2005 - Introduced a branded marketing strategy under the 'Red band' label.
2007 - WSI purchased the remaining minority interest in Kaputone and Whakatu wool scours, and the trading and marketing interests in RDWM.
2007 - Established the Purelana™ Direct Supply Initiative for wool growers to participate in vertical processing and marketing.
2011 - First raw wool processor in NZ to have its own stand at the prestigious Domotex Flooring Textile Fair in Shanghai.
2012 - Became part of the Lempriere Global group of companies
2016 - Lempriere Wool group became part of the Shandong Ruyi Corporation
2016 - Wool Scouring operations merged with the Cavalier Wool Scours