The Dominion. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1910. THE WOOL MARKET.
The fifth of the series of London wool sales begins in Coleman Street to-morrow evening, and the outlook is decidedly encouraging. It is not unusual to see adverse influences at work at the September sales to depress prices in view of the opening of the selling season in ' Australasia. Last year there was a scarcity of supplies, and prioes advanced 10 to 15 per cent. This year' there is not any shortage of tho staple,,but trade is active in Great Britain, more .or less so on the Continent, and reviv-' ing in the United States, consequently a good demand is -anticipated and valuds are bound to advance. The strength of the market may be estimated by the condition of affairs prevailing on the eve of tho July sales; Just before the openingj the market at Bradford for tops showed some weakness, and it was thought that prices for all classes!of combing wool would drop from 5 to 10 per cent. This surmise, however, did not prove correct, and although' buyers on the opening days showed some reservo, .values,soon rallied, andat the close were about on a par with the previous 'close, so far -as combing wools were concerned. But outside these classes values fell all along the line from 2i to 10 per cent and closed at the lowest- points. Holders were unwilling sellers at the. decline, and actually' bought in or did not offer 32,000 bales, ofwhich 25,000 bales; were from New Zealand. . / Since the auctions closed attempts have been made at Bradford by topmakers to raise the price of tops'; to a parity with the pricesVrcalisod for greasy combing wools in London,: and although comparatively little sucoess has been acnioved so far as merino .counts are concerned, the low crossbreds. have improved. . This may be seen in taking the quotations, for tops at the close of the July, sales and those current now: ■July 27. Sep. 23. Rise. Y Tops. - d. d; d. Forties 141 15 0| . Forty-sixes IC| 17 ; / 0J . .Sixties ..(common) 263 27 OJ 'Sixties' (super:) : 127| 28 0i •' Sixty-fours .283 •' 29.-. OJ' It will be seen that-in. the interval, the_ lower counts—forties and -forty-.-, sixies—havo advanced . three farth-. ings per 1b.,, while morino tops have risen only a farthing. -7 From, this it-is fairito assume that there is. an increased demand for fine and. coarse crossbred wool, consequently i there is ample justification for the withdrawal as mentioned of the 25,000 bales of New Zealand wool from the .'July sales. . Merino wool ; is' ai - : a high,level, and there as big Australian clip nearing the market which naturally . makes buyers careful. But crossbred wool iB not in the same position. The low crossbreds are still very low, and there is a good margin for improvement. We can best illustrate this by giving the quotations for Bradford tops as cabled last week, in comparison with those of the corresponding dates of the four previous years: 1900 1907 1908 1909 1910 Tops. " d. d. d. d. d. Forties ...... 17£ 161 10J 13V -15 Forty-sixes 18J 17} 12 15} 17 Sixties (common) 25? ,28 211 -27 27 Sixties (super.) 26} 29 22i 28 28 In 1906 the difference between forties and super;-sixties was 9d., while this yeaf the difference is as much as 13d.; in 1908 the difference was llfd., and in 1909 it'was 14jd. There is thus scope for improvement' in forties and forty-sixes, but the same cannot be _ said for common and super.-sixties. The fine wools recovered very quickly from the slump of 1903, because owing to the low prices- of that year manufacturers were able to create a demand.' With this fine wool fabrics became fashionable, and it is because they are still fashionable that the prices of the tops are so firm and steady. An improvement in •wool' prices is expectod—that is in crossbred wool —but this improvement will be mainly recovering the ground lost at the July sales; that is to say values may be expected to recover to those current at the close of the March sales._ Any improvementmust necessarily have a far-reaching effect, because in the course of six or seven weeks the new clip will be coming on the market. The prospects are distinctly good, but it is as well to take into consideration conditions which at any moment may affect the market. It is tolerably certain that money will be dearer in London very shortly, but this is a minor matter, because if trade remains good the money will be available. The big danger is the labour unrest, Any strike or lock-out in tho main industries of' Great Britain must affect the textile industry; and even in the industry itself the labour conditions are not entirely, satisfactory. Tho American situation is not encouraging, although it is said that trade is improving. However, the immediate prospect is for an advance in crossbred wool, and with the realisation _ of the advance, , a healthy optimism should prevail amongst tho sheop-farmers of New Zealand. With the farming community'prosperous and cheerful, the rest of the people will in due course participate, public confidence should be strengthened and a period of increased activity in the business life of the Dominion idiot?.
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Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 931, 26 September 1910, Page 6
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874The Dominion. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1910. THE WOOL MARKET. Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 931, 26 September 1910, Page 6
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