YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1390, 25 March 1912, Page 3

YORKSHIRE LETTER.

TIIF, LKSSOX Or COI.KMAX STKI'.KT. (From Our Special Correspondent.) Bradford, l-'ebrnary !l, n>l2. Interest has now been Iranslerre.l from Coleman Street Wool foclianye lo consuming centres, and T am sorry to be iinahle to i-epurl anything verv ;;u'.«l in connection with the trade, the finish in Colemau Street Satimlav seems t-.i have upset practically nil interests, niul it may k> laken for granted thai London will again have to speak iu order lo inspire the lexlile world. One can tell belter a month hence what is likely to hike place than to-day, Init it may li-o".nn'rssiry for merchants and imnorlers (o arranse a programme for haklinjr back a fair wt'igiil of wool unlil later in the year, unless trade improves and prices become steady. The l-easin for Ibis is the fact that there is now an unmistakable tendency lor values to niuve to n lower basis, ami although 1 am far from being pessimistic, yet the "bears" seem to have control, anil it appears as if another clVort will be made lo force prices downwards. It is the old. old story over again— namely, that when there 'is a weal; finish ill Colemau Street everybody soon takes a fit of nervousness. To-day all Ihe talk centres around cheaper wool and top-, many saying that trade cannot ileal with the tremendous supplies that lcom ahead. It seems to me as if it is goim; to be a time when a cool head and a strong nerve will be required to face the future, otherwise prices can soon move to a level where it will be bad for holders of the. raw material. However, London finished with prices on the weak side, and although a tair amount of comuetilion prevailed to the end, when' all is said and done Ihe final results must have been disappointing to those whose interests were.supremely centred in the sale ol wool in Colemau Street Wool Kxehnnge. A weak finish as a rule upsets the apple cart of the'whole trade, and buyers left with tho feeling that their efforts of the previous three weeks would not meet with tho favour which they had a right to expect. WHAT ALTEKATIOXS TAKI-; PLACE. Without wasting any space upon the last two or three days of Ihe series, 1 will simply ask the reader's attention to the following particulars, which give a summary of the final results. Compared with the. close of the previous series the following changes have taken jilace:— Australasian Wools. Merino grease, superior, par to id. cheaper; merino grease, average to goci-.1, •jcl. cheaper; merino grease, poor condition, Jd. cheaper; merino grease, inferior pieces and locks, jd. to .Id. cheaper; merino scoured, superior, par; merino scoured, average to good, >.<\. cheaper; merino scoured, inferior. Jrl. ( 0 Id. cheaper; merino scoured, faulty pieces and locks, !.d. cheaper; merino grease, lambs' wool, superior, par; merino grease, lambs' wool, medium, Jd. cheaper;, merino grease, lambs' wool, inferior, JJ. to Id. cheaper; crossbred grease, fine superior, nar; crossbred grease, fine ordinary, U\~. cheaprr; crossbred grease, medium sunerier, .'.<!. dearer; crossbred grease, medium ordinary, par to Jd. cheaper; crossbred grease, coarse superior, par: crossbred grc-.tse, coarse ordinary, Jd. . cheaper; cros.-:-, bred grease, lambs, superior, par; crossbred grease, Inmlis ordinary par; crossbred scoured, fiiic, .'.d. to Id. cheaper; crossbred scoured, medium and coarse, Jd. to Id. cheaper; cressbre.d slipe, lino, par .In !.d. cheaper; crossbred slipe, medium, id. fo Id. cheaper; crossbred slipe, coarse, .Id. cheaper. South African Wools. Snow white, super, pur; snow white, medium, Jd. cheaper; siiov,- v.hite, inferior, Jd. cheaper; grease, combing, light, •a«. cheaper; grease, pombh'g, heavy, ?d. cheaper; grease, clothing, light, ' par; greasj, clothing, heavy, nar.

SLACKNESS IX HHADFOIID. Turning to consuming centres (hero is little more to say tha'u . was R'cirdwl a wesk ago. Bradford :il the moim-nt -•eenn to he passing through h rather uncomfortable rspfrieucD. all the ialk centring around lower lirieo-. "Bears" once more seem to be a.-wndiiiij to the supreme position, and they' are doing their utmost tn force values (<i a lower ba-is. The tac(i-r> they arc employing are the us-.ial onw, namely, making London.the liandlo txi l:w\"t down prices. Their argument i.-; l!iat Coleman Street has seen the raw ni:it?ria! sell on a lower liasis than even the papers have sloted, that tops can be 'iiade cheajior than is generally reported, and that there is no re.i3Dii to pay more than Slid, for t'-t s tops. Those, who were asking S.'.d. have now come (Sown to iiid., whil-L' those who were only at nrc to-dav prepare;! to accept a. ■fartliiug hiit spinners will n:>t pay even L'4Jd., anil on Thursday's market: the bid* fyrtiicomiiijf were '2'l\d., some- vxen having Hie audacity to dler 241. There has been much more tr.lk indulged in during tlis ;ia-.t wn-k iiijout 2-lel. being before long a vegular quotation, and that ju<t alj;mt sets forth the actuiil iliuiding of tilings on IJrudlord E.v change.

Of eou/<e, a deal is being inadi- nf (he piosppofivc largo supplies. .[( is iiilly anticipated that a mouth licnc. , , wlu'ii the March series open, there will be available something like amther 175,000 bales, and that unless there is 1111 iiuproveniejii: at tho yarn end of the trade, luwcr prices are inevitable. What to si'.y i'ar the U-μ. and the safest, one hardly knows. Of course, if v.e were willing to lMen to and be inllueneed b.v the doleful .stateincuts of tho aveiiige cnnsorw.tivc Yorksliii-r----lnau, wo should si.on be head over heels ii; pessimism of the blackest lype, but somehow 1 am strongly' inclir.rd t-j tliiuk that with the present measure of consumption we ; re not going to see tho bottom drop out of the market. It need only be remembered that ever since last October Bradford spinners have had their eyes firmly iixed upon two shillings for a good Gi's top, and although prices havo risen to 25(1, that i'igiiri , lias never been paid at all freely, while if statements cabled from Australia were to be believed, spinners' Gi's would be costing as high as 28d. It did indeed teem strange at the. time that if they were costing even 2Gd. there should be some of the biggest firms in the trade prepared to go on selling at 25d. to Q.iid., and it can be taken for granted that at the present time no one is disposed to anticipate the future very much by buying even i.t less nnney.

However, it should not be forgotten that tonmakers are being hard pressed to make deliveries, particularly of merinos, so there cannot be very much wrong at the consumption end oi the trade. Commission woolconibe-rs are being as bard pressed as ever to get out tops, and there arc many firms over sold. Xo doubt lower prices for wool may suit the book of iiiany lirms; but they are not at all averse to helping values to a lower basis in Hie licpe of buying freely both in Australia and London in March, ljnt as far as accepting any less money for tops they are not disposed (0 do so at present. Fine noils aro plentiful and low, a very good sort fairly frco of seed and shiv being raiuiral to command more than 13d. This tends to make against the price of the combined article, but it is noteworthy that crossbred noils aro rather scarce, and havo risen about Id. during the past fortnight. This will help to relievo crossbred topmakers. At the same time thero is a great need for a fresh outlet for tho merino sorts, and the fact that tho flannel trade is somewhat quiet is making against tho consumption of noils. Many Kochdale buyers at the recent series of sales complained bitterly of the flannel trado falling oft' a good deal. This is to bo regretted, Iscausa they put away some fair weights of medium fino wools, "mixing same with noils they buy from Bradford. CROSSBKEDS SLIGHTLY WEAKER.

As is well known, the West Hiding is the- most important outlet for crossbred wools of any manufacturing centre in the world, and thero yet remains practically 75 per cent, of the world's crossbred clip to bo lifted. The way crossbreds sold at tho recent series in London was undoubtedly largely the outcome of urgent requirements which had to be lilled, and directly users saw that they had covered what they wore forced to deliver in the top they instantly lowered their limits. Tho eyes of the trade are already fixed upon the March serin,-, when anywhere from 80 to 1011,0(10 hales of Aew Zealand wools lire expected to l:e available. Perhaps thi' supplies tn hand may nut lju as large as many are expecting, and it will lie a good job if less wo.d is to hand than many am looking for.

Th'i- fact that there N Ihrcp-fourlhs of Ihu Uivcr Pluto clip still to market al.-o emphasis'.", tho impurlmicp nf going slowly, and spii'.UPis as well i-xpiirl and buypr-i of crossbred yarns in "jciioral are dcli-rmined to force things to a lower basir, if they can: ill lea'!, llu-y are not going to givo any measure of -trcnKth by iilnciug large contrrvcUs. Tho Bradford jnarket at tliQ crossbred end of

the irad-.' is therefore in a verv pcciilinr .'tale. Spiiiuei-s are liidiliu-,; limlcr Hid. lor -|i) - >, and Cl!d. is |, w la.v a tuinmiin iMiolallon I'm- Hi's <ai-.!o-l. -This means dial prii-es iii-i» fas| K! .(lii, K bad; |~ w| K . r ,. they iv?re !s-l Xnveiii):er, when inanv loii-niaker-i iooli.-hly am-pfeil prices 'v.-hieli me.-iiil a dj,-ccl loss, | ( ~- Ihev have never b.-eii j,l,h. to covet- I hose sales eill.ei- in Ae-,v /ealand or J.ondon. liuenos ,\.vrc« has lurnished by f iir ||,o cheapest wool Iliis season. u!i<l more or loss lias been (he. Milva.iiin of llraillord lopinakei-s. With Iho bull; of the clip still (o lift, it is c-iuiMtlereil a %\Ui: Hum- In force pricedown, hence Iho present limp ami lifeless market.