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Mark Patterson: Rural Communities Minister on the export deal for wool particles to Japan · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I've got some more key ingenuity on the show today.
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Key company Wool Source has landed its first big export
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: deal with Japan. They're shipping off eight tons of their
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: wool particle product. Some people are calling this the holy
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Grail for strong wool, and some people are also saying
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: this will give a farmers a decent boost because we
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: all know that wool has been struggling so rural communities.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Minister Mark Pattison joins me. Now, goodbording to you, Mark,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Good morning Andrew. What exactly is wool particle?
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: It's deconstructed wall fibers. So there's a secret process that's
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: been two decades in the development out at Lincoln University
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: and we're finally getting at the commercial stage.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: So you're deconstructed, then you're reconstructed and it comes back tougher.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: Well, in this case it's particles, but we can take
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: it right down to sort of pigment size. So look,
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: it's a secret process. So I don't actually know, but
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: but I do know it's a keenly sought and of
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: very high value, which is cause very much interest to
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: our funer.
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  Speaker 1: So far, the first country debate is just Japan and
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: they're buying eight tons, So why is that is that important?
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  Speaker 1: Is it showing that the innovation is working or has
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: it been slow on the uptake?
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: No, it's more the ability to process that. There is
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: a very small laboratory plant. So the next phase is
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: to scale this up as demand comes in. So we're
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: very much constrained by capacity at the moment. But eight
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  Speaker 2: ton it's a fear lot of wallpowder when you see
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  Speaker 2: it in a storeroom. So yeah, very big step forward.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: This is our moonshot moment. This is where we can
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: take wall to a whole different play in terms of value.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: I love it moonshot moment. Are we going to make
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: the moon I mean, is this going to work? What
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: is How will this affect the wall sector? How will
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: it affect farmers?
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: Well, often these kind of innovations are quite niche, but
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  Speaker 2: this has the ability to be quite large in the
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: sense that we believe it could take a twenty percent
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: of New Zealand strong wall Club once fully up and
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: running at a very high price point. So it has
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: the opportunity or the potential to really move the needle
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: for our sheep farmers, and.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: They want it to and I thank you so much.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Mark Patterson, who is the rural community's Minister for more
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge. Listen live to news talks.
• 2:32
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• 2:35
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