WOOL SELLING SEASON REVIEWED

Chronicle (Levin), 4 January 1947, Page 8

WOOL SELLING SEASON REVIEWED

(Spec.ial Correspondent.)

—i — Results of Auclions ,at Home

Received Ffiday, 8.30 p.m. LONDON, Jan. 3. "The results oi' the wool selling seasons whieh began in September witn a return to sale by 'auction, have so far been vhry satisfactory, " said Mr. F. S. Arthur, forineriy of Dunedin, and now general manager of United lvingdomDomiaion Wool Disposals Lifnited, when rcviewing events to the end o'f Decetnber. "In addition to a very good clearanee of the growers ' new clip, '' he said, "our Joint Organisatioft, as it is more commonly knowri, sold from stock some 1550,000 bales. Of that aboitt 500,000 were sold at United Klfigdom auc tionS and approxiiriately 100,000 in New Zealand and X5U,000 in Soutli Afidca. "The market has gone vefv niticll as expected with medium crossbreds selling at fairly close to reserve prices and fine halfbred and Meriuos brihging a substantial premiuni over reserves. This is a refleetioii of world deniand. "With the end of the war there has been a swilig over in e,onsumption from crossbreds to fmer types for ' civilian use. The world has beeh very large] \ deprived of new clothing throughoui the war, especlally Coiitinehtal eoun tries whose buying has beeh particuiar ly heavy. While it is always advisabkto be Very cautious iii commentiug upon future treflds, it is expected that dkr ing the remainder of the selling season. line and halfbred Merinos will c'Ontimuto bridg good prices. It is not anticipated, UotVever, that there will be hiucli change in tlie crossbred position. "The support whicli the Joint Orgali isatioh gave to the market was an im portaut contrilmtion towards price stability but it is hoped there will be more deniand for crossbreds 111 the future. We shall linish the season with very substantial stocks of New Zealand crossbreds and while the results to date are satisfactory, our task oi attempting to equalise deniand with supply arnl minimising fluctuations -in price, is just begihning. " "The future ■ market for New ZeaJand crossbreads does not promise to be altogetlier easy and it -would be uhfortilhate if any demahd for it were defieeted, as a result of shipping diliiculties, to the Arg'ehtine Whose production of crossbreds substantially increased throughout the war. It is iinportant that the frec floiv of wool from 'producing to consuming countries should be restored as quickly as possible. It has been inevitable with tlie slioftage of shipping that the noriual period of. the traiisfer of wooi should be prolougcd. But additional delays in tlie shipment' of wool from New Zealand are .viewed with considerable misgiving by overseas buyers and- the Joint, Organisation. ' ' Eft'orts are being made to seeure a wider outlet for crossbreds and it is hoped during the next six months to gei the German textile industry working again. During the past 12 months it has been at only 30 per cent. eapacity. The ftision of Ihe Anglo-American zones should lead to more eoordination in the supply of raw materials to German factories. During the past year the Joint Organisation has • supplied in the form of outright sale to the British Ooittfol Gommission approximately 150,000 bales of whieh 125,00(1 have been New Zealand medium erossbreds, 83,000 bales of whieh wero shipped -ditect to Hamburg. "The bulk of this wool is now beinj processed at the large Bremen Woolkammcrie whicli escaped seriom bombing and whieh until recently wai used as a storehouse. More wool, in chiding New Zealand, is expected to bt rnmiirfid fnr Gprmnnv diir'm>- the nex!

•' U" - — six months for use by civilians and the armies of occupation. Export from Germany depends on the surplu.s eapacity available and coal supplies. gi'oeeeding iii, t.|| •• of 4|en di iigi woot ' 4tftpalii'. • l!&l|JtWigl^i it igs undefb stood *Th^t/..c"ph-sifter-ab1e" qn.antitiescjcri'. American cotton have been supplied to Japan and processed there, tio Wool has vet been sent. Some time will elapse, 1 bowever, before Japan regains her prewar status as a wool uset. She has a considerable amount of plant but botnb damage and the faet that the Japanese scraiiped a good deal of textile plafU to re-use the metal for armatnents affects the positioii. "An interesting point is that despite the. GeTmali occupation activity ilLthe Continental textile mills is rUflning at a high level., They fouud it possible tu return to a state of full production more quickly than the United Kingdom whieh bore such a large share of the burden of freeing them. FtanCe and Belgium are working their mills today at a point whieh must be very close to prewar production. The Italian in dustry, whieh' is situated mostlv in the north, was left largely undamaged artdthis, togetfier with the faCt that it de pcnds more on electricity than coal. enabled it to re-establisli itself. Though Italy is short of foreign exehange her mills are kept. rnnning by a Sclietuc whereby the Italians process woo| 011 comnlission fat Btitish Jnd otltei' meC chants and re-export tlie manufactured product. BfocesSiilg Costs ate beitig paid by the retentioft of a povtion oi raw wool to be used for the home mdf ket. Today the Italian textile industry is working at a hig.hgr_pitch.than pre war. • "There is every indication tlial Amefican industry will use fnofe wool than pre-war. Durifig thd wfiy Ameri can eonsumption of wrool showed a remafkable increase, aiid wiiile it is noi Jilcely that the present high rate of ac tivity Will coiitintie inddliflitely it is expected that her peaeetime consump tion will be cohsolidated at & liguft substantially higher than previo'usly. "■ "In the Uftited Ritigddnir .though there Is an iiiipfovement iii dontbihg. spinning and weaving, activity is still well below pre-war figures. Labour, paxticularly women labour, has by xic nseans yet reaClie'd itg full Compieiiieat,

But Wlitle progress may appear slow tlie whole wool textile industry is gi'adualB reeovering and the den>and widening Ihe Joint Oi'gaii|satioii is _lip\y sourtdb established with its headqiiarters in London and the Dominion organisations are functioning. actively in the Dominioii markets." ■ \ •