Characteristics and Qualities of the Cashmere Fibre originating from the People's Republic of Mongolia

In the People's Republic of Mongolia (or Outer Mongolia) in 1989 there were 4,003,000 goats and only 5 to 10% of their produce was exported. The rest was manufactured locally, some of which made its way to either the national market or the COMECON market. Nine years later the goat population had reached 10,000,200 goats, concentrated in the northern area of the nation (58% males, 39% females and 3% geldings). These figures were updated in May 1998 by Dr. Yo Zagdsuren, teacher at the Agricultural University of Mongolia-Research Unit of Animals and responsible for the "Cashmere Goat Project".

In the last decade, and especially the last few years, several American, Italian and Japanese companies created Joint Venture with the Mongolian society, made possible by the relaxing of the People's Republic of China's government towards foreign investment. Other companies installed dehairing plants mostly concentrated in the capital Ulaan Baatar.
In Outer Mongolia at present there are a little less than 30 dehairing lines, others are due to be built shortly, a few of which will come from the dismantled plants in America, Great Britain, France and Italy, whilst more are being made in Japan. Exportation is regular, of excellent quality and with no record of pollution. The geographic isolation of the People's Republic of Mongolia obliges the operators to export the goods aerially, passing through Moscow or Peking. Recently however the famous Tran Siberian railway is being used more frequently, taking the goods from Ulan-Ude through Irkutsk and Novosibirsk to arrive in the Russian capital: from where it is usually transported to Italy or Scotland.

With respect to the Chinese fibre, the fibre collected in Outer Mongolia is of a slightly lower quality by about 0.8 to 1.3 micron, but homogenous, long and tenacious. To understand the reason for this difference it is necessary to go back almost half a century when, in trying to increase the production per capita of each animal, "PREDON" goats from Siberia were imported. These goats guaranteed a higher return but supplied coarser cashmere than the local one, with a fineness of 18 to 19 micron. In the years that followed, the animals crossbred and so contaminated the local breed, hence supplying a fibre that rarely dropped below 16.5 micron, halfway through the last decade. Following calls for a better product a few years ago, a few agencies took to isolating the goats whom did not meet the required standard; this led to a finer cashmere that, once dehaired, supplied a fibre of less than 16 micron.
Cashmere from Outer Mongolia is predominantly light grey or brown; it's estimated that white cashmere represents only 10% of the Outer Mongolian cashmere and comes almost exclusively from the county of Shine Zhist. The cause of this minimal production is ascribed to the fact that white goats are less resistant to the harsh climate and cannot bear temperatures lower than -20C, which is normal for a Mongolian winter. Mongolian white-coated goats are therefore concentrated in the southwestern territory, protected from the freezing, northern winds by the Altai mountain range.

Characteristics and qualities of the Cashmere from the autonomous province of Inner Mongolia

Of the 35 million goats that lived in the territory of the People's Republic of China in 1999, 7 million were located in Inner Mongolia.
Until 1985-6 the channels through which the Chinese cashmere was bought were as secure as the quality. All the exportations were managed and controlled by the "China National Produce & Animal by Products" that also decided the pricing policy. It was possible to buy cashmere 'lots' via telex based on a standard quality referred to by figures that the operators had used for decades. KVSS01 was 38 mm white fibre, dehaired to 0.1%, KVSS02 was white, 38 mm dehaired to 0.2%, light grey was KW, brown was KX etc. Trading took place without any particular problems, the cashmere was of a standard quality: uncontaminated and a 'lot' was a ball of 1,500 kg reduced to 75 kg and marked with the famous red monogram.
Tientsin, in the Hebei province was for many years the historical centre of cashmere processing, with a good number of dehairing centres in the early 60s. Until 1980 it was the most important industry of Chinese dehairing and a point of reference for the "China National Produce & Animal by Products" in Peking, when they took control. Tientsin is also the capital's port and one of the three cities that depend directly on the government.

After Tien Ammen there was an important programme of Chinese economic reform, which resulted in more liberal attitudes towards the end of the 80s. Thanks to this liberalisation and know-how of the operators the number of dehairing lines increased considerably in the early 90s. They sprang up in Quinghe, in the Hebei province; more then 4,000 companies, some private, others local, some centrally controlled and others managed by Hong Kong traders. The control held by the "China National Produce & Animal by Products" was lost after the liberalisation and small companies began to adulterate the product, mixing it with wool during the dehairing and creating all sorts of problems for the sector operators. Since then, little has changed and a secure partnership with extremely accurate controls is the only way to avoid contamination of the cashmere.
Today Quinghe has the biggest concentration of dehairing plants in the nation; an estimated 50% in fact, followed by the Dong Shong area with 20% and Tientsin 5%. The remaining 25% are scattered over the huge Chinese territory.
The fibre collected in Inner Mongolia is ideal for products destined for the shops, with an excellent length and an average fineness of 14 to 15 micron. The difference between here an Outer Mongolia is that about 70% of the fibre is white, which the operators later control, accurately separating it from the coloured hair by hand. In the early 90s in some areas a selection of goats was chosen to try and produce a product devoid of coloured hair. One particular area is the Alan-Shan area, where there is the greatest concentration of white goats of the best quality, here the breeding of coloured or mottled goats is suppressed.

Characteristics and Qualities of Tibeta Cashmere

The Tibetan territory is so much more fantastic than we could possibly imagine, a place where nature rules uncontested. The Tibetan mountains constitute the most important plateaus in the world both in terms of their height and their vastness. The mountainous range from Kuenlun in the north to Himalaya and Karakorum in the south are a geographical strength.
Tibet is enormous, covering an area two-thirds the size of Europe, comprising of deserted areas rich in vegetation, which is steppe-like on the plateaus with an abundance of prairies and tundra and it's here that the herds of Cashmere goat live.

Without doubt Tibet is the mark of excellence, where cashmere was first discovered by the world when caravan leaders in the last century led camels and yaks carrying the precious long fibres of north Indian silk towards the neighbouring region of Ladakh. Today Tibet is still important as it represents 10% of the People's Republic of China's production, or an estimated 1,000 to 1,300 tons of grizzly, which is of the best quality. Tibetan cashmere is the finest in the world, 50% of which is brown and is usually under 13.5 micron.
The climatic conditions and altitude in Tibet mean that their harvest finishes later than everywhere else. The usual month for harvesting is July but due to the difficult territorial conditions, communication and the sheer size of the land it can take from 45 to 60 days. Only at the end of August is the fibre ready to be dehaired by the Chinese. It must be remembered that there are no railways in Tibet, the few roads that do exist are impassable for most of the year and many cities and villages are frequently cut off by snow. Plus the fact that the two major collection centres, 'NAGQU' and 'AR LI' are extremely far apart and the only means of communication is an almost inaccessible road.
Tibet is an immense country, with snow-capped mountains 4,000 mountains high, where the ice and snow never melt and there isn't any vegetation or signs of life. Lhasa is the capital and is 3,700 m above sea level and although there is a dehairing centre located there, it doesn't really figure in the cashmere business. 1,800 km north of Lhasa is the city of NAGQU and is the most important collection zone; from here most of the cashmere from Tibet Oriental is taken to Lhasa and then to China. All the cashmere collected in western Tibet is taken to the city of AR LIR in the northwest, near Ladakh and the Indian border. The best fibre in the world is found here as it is where the Tibetan "CHIRU" (Panthalops Hogsani) live, the 9 micron fibre is used to make the famous Shahtoosh shawls. However, Shahtoosh trading is illegal as the Chiru antelopes are on the edge of extinction and all Shahtoosh shawls are therefore imitations. AR LI is linked to Lhasa by a single road, which can only be traversed in the summer months and even then it can be impossible due to constant landslides. The goods are taken from AR LI to HOTAN in southern Xin Jiang, a Chinese province in the north of Tibet. The 10 day journey passes 7 mountains over 7,000 m high and involves a large group of vehicles because to remain isolated in that area means you'll never return. This is the only secure way to transport the west Tibetan cashmere to be dehaired by the Chinese.

LEGAL NOTICE
All the contents of this website are covered by copyright. Any reproduction, even partial, for commercial purposes is permitted only upon prior written authorisation from Natural Fantasy® SpA. The statements included on this site regarding products, tests and legal regulations are intended as exemplary and concern only Italy. We reserve the right to modify the products and the characteristics and specifications of the same without any notice. Consequently the illustrations and texts on the website contain details which may not necessarily correspond to the current proposal.
This website has been created with the greatest possible precision. Despite this, we can assume no responsibility as regards mistakes or the correctness of the information contained.
We decline any responsibility whatsoever for any damage directly or indirectly caused by the use of this website.