LONDON WOOL SALES.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1696, 12 March 1913, Page 8

LONDON WOOL SALES.

VERY SATISFACTORY SERIES. (From Our Special Correspondent.) London, January 31, 1913. Last Wednesday saw the end u( the first series of sales of colonial wool for; (lie current year, and we .shall.be well repaid if \ye briefly review what has taken place in Coleman Street during the past fortnight. It will be remembered that the auctions opened exactly as we anticipated, the whole-sen/*-* being marked with steady, keen, and persistent competition which cannot but cause satisfaction to everyone connected with the growing, importing and selling of the article. There have been connected with the recent auctions feelings ol'. satisfaction, the importance of which cannot well bo over estimated. Although the trade recognises the comparative dearness. of the raw material, the fact is that -it can bo used even at. current values, and although \vool is high in price, that .is not sufficient excuse for' any user passing it bv.

We have known times when tho raw material was fetching more money, but neither in 1907, 1899, or 1889, were (hero factors then present which are in evidence to-day.i The .manufacturing.world never required such an avalanche of raw material as at present, and be it said to tho credit of the Home trade, its spinners and manufacturers never shifted so much material as the.v arc doing to-day. All this'means that, the various sections of (ho trade who take wool, in its raw state are compelled to buy largely in order to meet consumptive' •. requirements which themselves arc confronted. -Very many mills during the past few years have installed new mid quicker running machinery,, the old bavin*-been scrapped, and it is.a fact that the Home trade has to the occasion by installin? plants- which demand larger supplies than could be previously u>ed. There has been.evidence of thisat tho recent auctions, and while probably some u c ers have been buying a little to stock, tho tact is in evidence that the wool will bo wanted, and when supplies are not there, lissrs will probably have something by t.hem to flaky: out with till another new clip is available. 3IEIIINOS' STILIj FIRST. , One fact stands out prominently as we review the course of the recent auctions. -Merinos are.still in. the lead, and faith is expressed in them for thccomiiig'inonths. In Sydney tho boom prices of 1899 have been placed alongside those made this season ~, that market, and if a similar table Had to be made out respecting London, the same talc would'havo (o bo told. We can afford to ignore the very high puces which have I>?en paid for specialit|es, such as warm-water washed lambs, and greasy superior lambs free of sliiv, burr, and every atom of extraneous mat--ter. It is the sale of the'rank and file' clips which we contend ' determines \tlie lango of priccs,. and when fine, greasy wools of good average character are selling anywhere from 13d.-to 15d. per lb., it shows that the level of values readied is by no means to be despise'd. Tho demand for merino wool from first to last' has been excellent, and at no time have the sales dragged. We do not remember a single night, of the series when there has been any slackening inHhe demand,' the auctions right to the 'fi&dh-•' bang characterised by first-class'competition, in which the Home and Continental trades have participated. : i

Scoured merinos have sold freely, although the- ofl'enings have in no sense been large. We cannot report any marked improvement in the prices paid,-and any advance is covered-by Jd." Still, tho wool's have sold splendidly, and easily maSc prices fully equal to the best of' December rates. Tho demand for these seems lo have expanded as .the series advanced. Good shafty pieces have, mado very big figures,'and, the'samp can be snid of bHieii wools as well as bellies. Locks have been very,scarce, and tiles'; also liavo sold very frefely indeed at', full prices. A line of noils from Sydney, which is a novelty, ,w;<3re| offered jihe'fir.ifc wdefc'of (he serms, and-made up to 13d., and, being combed on t-lio French principle, they wero-na-turally very short and. voi'ij fine;.' but competition was fairly gcod for t'hem.' ' South African merinos ' have -been ris : presented by some very nico wools, chiefly of twelve months' growth. These have sold, very freely, and made on tho-whole satisfactory prices, though on import wools, owners will have done no good with them. ' ' CROSSBREDS BETTER THAN EXPECTED. r. * -■ The first consignments of "new clip" wools .from New Zealand are always ill the catalogues of the January series of sales, and some really?* excellent lines have been submitted. There is a concensus of opinion that,, the crossbreds from the Dominion are in better condition than last year, and there is every prospect' of the clip being a splendid one. The wools lire very light,, clean,sand dry, besides being well grown. .'Very lieavj rains were experienced during' winter, which no doubt largely accounts for the lightness of the clip. New Zealand pastoralists as well as their London representatives have every cause for thankfulness that American buyers have been present in sufficient strength to give considerable support to medium, and fine crossbreds in particular. They liavo bought' more than the,majority, thought they would, and the fact that the wools are wanted in America.' as quickly ns possible is a very; healthy sign. '1 hentakings amount to 9000 bales, arid although the quantity in the aggwratn .is not large, the fact that. theV took the best wools has given a stimulus to tho remainder of the. crossbred offerings.

Wo cannot say that prices in the majority of caws are any higher than they we're last series, but nil descriptions linvo made fully last sales' rates, and as the wool is somewhat lighter 111 condition, current prices are just the turn cheaper. Still, the difference amounts to the smallest fraction, while fine descriptions are par to 5 per. cent, dearer, which counteracts any sign in the better yields- I'or 50's nualitv ami unwards, from. 1™- to 15:1. lias teen naid : 4G's hhve realised from 12 to 13Jd.. and iO's from 10k1.,t0 115(1., oven a shilling 'wins paid- for those vcrv light deep-stapled wools on American account. The Home trade has given the largest supnort to crossbreds, Bradford tonmakers being ready to operate,- notwithstanding that not 'the best reports have come from that centre concerning the course of crossbred tops. There was lie\ or anv justification for topmakers acceding l. r )ld. for average prepared tons, as was the case at. the end of- the first week of the auctions,' for wool'has never been bought on so low a basis anywhere, Probablv such an action was really the result of- '"bear" tactics, but no sooner- were 'the same made than (tic same tomnakers were back at Isjd., the, wice at wliie.h thev stand to-day. Won throughout the series lias sold splendidly, and buyers went bonie feeling that/whatever Bradford is like, wool shows no sign whatever of being cheaper. . ' FUTURE PROSPECTS. . •\s one takes a prosucctivo view. It must be said .that all things considered the outlook is still favourable for a rantinuancc of .to-day's rates. A big business lias been done during 'tb.e past fortnight in tho salo of fine, tons ill Bradford, miinv tonmakcrs having sold their whole output for months to come. \\e ocrtainlv think that the future of merinos is fiillv assured, Some are doing 'their utmost' to undervalue tho imiwrtance of Ihlgotv's estimate of the..shrii'ikago ill the currant Australian clip, but the. trade seems disposed- at present to take more notice of them than of any statement made hero to the contrary. The Balkan question continues (<> dra?'wearily along, and has certainly inflicted a rather severe blow uoon crossbred spinners, and stocks of single vards—some think even 'of two-folcis-—existing in Bradford are large in consequence. A settloment of the Balkan question would bring considerable relief, and wo fail'to'see until th(tf is out of tho wav. and buving_ is resumed, hmv erossbre'cls can appreciate .much. . Still, lower prices do not seem to be likely, and all onei can do is simply to -wait and see what developments take place. Wo pin most faith to tho present measuro of oaijsumption, and here very satisfactory coYidilions obtain. The Home trade remains verv good, tho Far Fast, Australia, South Africa, South America, and Canada rc.main good markets, lipnce so loner as consumption is maintained, ciirr"»-t- vallies cannot suffer. Tho on'look still appears to us to favour n continuance of curvnnt prices, but higher values arc not justified at present.