The alpaca fiber market is expected to have astounding growth in the coming years. Alpaca is a natural fiber that provides more warmth minus the scratchy texture of wool. Alpaca clothing is warm, soft, and extremely comfortable.
The market is witnessing high growth mainly due to an upsurge in demand for alpaca fiber fleeces and other types of fashion accessories made with alpaca fiber. As the trend of offering highly sustainable and eco-friendly garments and accessories is gaining popularity in the fashion apparel industry, the alpaca fiber market is growing at a rapid pace with the surging demand for warm and soft alpaca fiber.
As high genetic merits can lead to producing large quantities of high-quality alpaca fiber, manufacturers in the alpaca fiber market are putting efforts into providing nutritious feed to alpacas. Nutrition makes a significant impact on the health and reproduction capabilities of alpacas, and ultimately helps to obtain softer and high-quality alpaca fiber.
Peru is the largest alpaca fiber producer and has some 3.8 million alpacas, which is 87 per cent of the world’s alpaca population. The country’s alpaca exports increased by over 110 per cent in 2017 with a rise of over 14 per cent average per kilogram in the export price.