OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 987, 30 November 1910, Page 5

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

I ARE FASHIONS GOING ON TO ■ CKOSSBREDS? (From Our Special Correspondent.) ' . Bradford, October 21, 1910. Hie wool situation is pri-oeeding on very similar lines to a week ago, and (hero is really not a, great deal that is new to report. Perhaps most interest oi all cDiiiros around- the colonial market, the auctions at the various sjllras quarters being eyed with more than ordinary, concern. ' This is but natural, pseiiiß that there is fo much at stake ino beginning of a season is far.different to say the middle or the end, for what is penis done to-day will certainly affect the entire trade for many months to como Tho wool industry has now assumed such colossal proportions that it is impossible to estimate the far-reach-lng consequences which either tha . upward or downward movement of prices entails. A good season always inspires none and confidence in the future, and tho good prices at which wcol is selling m Australia to-day is certainly the cause tor much satisfaction. It is the merest common-place to say that buyers are not getting all their own way. or that prices aro moving a s tho majority would like. As I havo said in past letters, wcol§V9w* rs look at things from a somewhat different perspective to buyers,, the former natarally wanting the highest price th?y can possibly get for. every lot -of wool. Buyers, on the other hand, make a vigorous attempt to secure the raw material at as reasonable a rate as possible, and oftentimes they feel a little out when values ,-ito moving oh a higher altitude than they think they should. ■Ihe greatest surprise to the trade today is undoubtedly tho way the colonial fales are going, and to find prices firm to hardening is what the majority never rapMted. During the past month the teelnig has been general in consuming centres that after the first flush' of buying was over, and when .immediate requirements were filled, values would still ease to a lower level, but seemingly there is no indication so far in that direction. Both private and public cables from Australia are being scanned as they never were before, and to find values displaying if anything a hardening tendency surprises everybody. Does it not all show that the consumptive requirements of the wool world are still exceedingly large, and that users can manipulate the raw material at a profit notwithstanding tho stiff rates at which wool is selling? I think the time has arrived when the old argument can be disposed of that all buyers are philanthropists, and that they pay more, for the raw material than they can get back in the top, yarn, or finished piece. In a time of slump that may be so, and such unfortunate circumstances always bring disaster, but in normal times 'like the present wool: is bought and turned to good account in nine cases out of ten.

ARE FASHIONS CHANGING? There is a full maintenance of the sound manufacturing conditions which have obtained during the past six months, and machinery is being run at the maximum. It would be hard to say what fabrics aro .taking the lead, but it is well known that merino materials have held sway during the nnst two years. 1 was talking to a West Iliding manufacturer one day this week, and he said that as far as he could read the signs' of the times thero was n changing of fashions from fancy worsteds to woollens, the people who, 'during tho past two years, had been wearing the fofrcer,fabric realising that they were somewhat thin and papery, and hardly so serviceable as a good woollen material. Perhaps he was giving expression to his own innermost felings, but he said that if their,mill was.as big again they could run it easily. Their plant at the . present time is large, having just built a new weaving shed, yet. they canuot copo us they would like with the orders they have iu hand. This firm makes essentially better-class woollen fancies, and running till 8 p.m. lias been iu vogue for (ha past three years. There may bo moro than a modicum of truth in what lie snid, for that verdict is pronounced by others equally in us good a positionto express an opinion. Nobody need cxpecf worsted materials to hold sway for ever, and especially at the prices which are to-day being demanded. That undoubtedly has something to do with the . present attitude of the wholesale trade, and there is no disguising the fact Hint Hmklersfield manufacturers of low and medium woollens are exceedingly well off for work. All the same, I am not disposed to look with any serious mis"ivin«s unon the future demand for worsted fabrics. England is not the only market-in the world, and. without doubt the overseas trado which our manufacturers and shi; jmg houses arc doing is a colossal one. A lower range of values would bo very acceptable, and the very fact of woollens, meeting with, perhaps, a little more popular favour has something to do with the , -universal desire for cheaper wool. There is abroad sti-ouR felings "both in England and on. the Continent that to-day's prices will not bo maintained during- tho whole of the coming season, but the same view.was expressed a year ago. Of course, there is in prospect an increase of 150,000 bales from Australasia, and that,- no doubt, is influencing the opinion of many, but as I write this thero is nothing, to seriously indicate. any material lowering in j the price of wool. . ) . " j

A WAITING MARKET. Tilings are developing somewhat slowly nt the manufacturing eiul of tho.industry. • In London some fair quantities of withdrawn wools, especially fcrossbreds, have been taten by Yorkshire topnrakers, and that is rather a significant sign. At the same timu the. premier consuming centres givo little indication of activity; in fact there is a general tendency to let tilings slide. .Business doing on "spot" account is very limited, simply because all users have covered their immediate " requirements. It is common: knowledge that a good 64's top can be secured for even spot delivery at 2s. 4 J jd., which is certainly- a declino of Jd. li'oiu the highest .point. Some, lirms asked 25.. Sid. t during August and September, but it is very doubtful if they ever made it. Anyone carrying stocks to-day will sell if they can get a decent bid. I cannot hear tell of a great deal being dune on Continental account, especially in dry combed merinos; Stocks, according to the returns, aro fairly heavy, and that being so there is little disposition to purchase in Bradford when all spinners' requirements' both ill France and Germany call be met from what is being held at Borne. I don't hear tho best of reports from either Prance or Germany. Mills certainly arc being fully run, but the same dispbsition is there manifest over the-future , of prices. Users everywhere aro wanting.to buy on a still lower basis,-and 2s. 3d. for 64's tops for. January to Marsh delivery satisfies but very few. I was talking this week to a Continental traveller who had just come homo from Germany, and he said he could havo sold some big weights of 64's ir. oil ol 2s. 2d., but topmakers will not yet sell at that price. It eeeras to me as if it is going to be a question of which party is going to win, the colonial sales or users at this end? Tho former news from Australia :has somewhat stiffened tho backs of importers, and they aro not so ready at selling at 2s. 3d. for 64's. The opinion generally prevails that wool can bo bought both at Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney to produce a good average top at that price, and a few of (he biggest importers will t,till sell, though generally a' more cautious attitude is being displayed. What surprises the trade the most is that the big weights of wool that are being submitted do not break down prices. Evidently the Continental trade must havo soino big buying ordors, for the raw material is being snapped up .with pronounced freedom. However, tho general tendency of this market is to let things slide and wait developments, and there matters are resting. . WHERE AKE CRO3SBREDS? The position of crossbreds .also shows very little chnnse. It is hard to say actually where they stand, for there- is very little doing. Fine descriptions aro sticking somewhat in the mud, the greatest call being for 46's. A good average I ■tO's top can to-day be bought anywhere from Hid. to IM., it nil depending upon the position of tho topmnker and the class nf articles offering. . The majority have faith in tho future of crossbreds, but the first week of the recent London snles aro to-dny willing ssllore at a good Jd, less. Thfl best feature c.o.Qt&se.B' to

lia the full maintenance of. Here there certainly :s much encourage-' meiit, for spinners aro uncommonly busy. Littlo development has so far boon made in selliiiK forward, and u good deal will depend upon how the sales in New Zealand go next month. . If it rests with Bradford topmakers to lift the bulk of the wools, then I am certain there will bo a slight set-back in values, and upon that point there is a wide divergence of opinions expressed. Some cannot see much lower values, if any, while others are confident th:it wool will be on a basis of 13UI. for a good dO's prepared top. Really speaking, that is the price at wliich the majority-, are wanting to buy, but whether they will do k> or not remains to "bo .seen. Rome shite that crossbreds are gaining ground in popular favour, to the detriment of merinoF. One wonders what speculators ara going to do both in. New Zealand and Buenos Ayres. A good many . firms nowadays buy and resort largely to recasting and classing, and then the wools are sent on to London for sale. With the exception of the last series, nobody can afford to pay what they did last season, and my own view is that we shall have slightly lower values. However, as I already said, consumption is good, and spinners are as ■ busy as ever.