LONDON WOOL SALES.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1725, 16 April 1913, Page 9

LONDON WOOL SALES.

SERIES OPEN WITH AN ADVANCE IN MERINOS AND CROSSBREDS. .

(Prom Our Special Correspondent.) London, March 7. Ono moro chapter opens in tho wool trade with tho commencement of the second series of colonial sales for tho year, Coleman Street Wool Exchange last Tuesday being filled to overflowing by a largo number of buyers, representative of tho Home, Continental* and American trades, it is quite truo that United Sttites buyers wero.not present, in bucll full force as in January, but for all that their interests will not bo neglected, and probably as tho series advance London buying brokers will to some extent operate on American account. The only regret is that American firms do not feel disposed to operate on a largo scale at present, but Schedule K seems destined to pass through tho sieve, so that one can understand wny American buyers do not desire to buy freely until they • know where things stand. However, the, initial, sitting culled forth unique attention, and thero was Certainly on ' all hands life and vitality in evidence. On an occasion like this it pays the trade to see how things have moved.. ,It is ■well known that wool has shown unmistakable signs of advance for' manyseries, and yet the top does not seem to be reached. It is indeed very pleasant to those who own tho raw material to find values going up, but we think as much •of those who have it to use, and must say that a -little difficulty is being experienced in being able to turn .to good account tho present somewhat dear wool. Still, the fundamental principles | which govern prices, namely, supply and' demand,' are to-day operative, and without 'doubt business is good and. supplies limited, hence appreciation in price is but-a natural sequence of cvonts. . THE WOOLS AVAILABLE. The question of arrivals is always one that deserves attention and demands tlio notice of the trade. So much wool is now being sold in producing countries that the wools available in . Coleman Street are but a small portion of the aggregate quantities which are being groiyu. Still, Coleman Street is in no sense a negligible factor, and as business everywhere is good, the wools at present, available tiro certain to be absorbed with rare avidity. Since the close of the list for the January auctions, no fewer .than 420,000 bales'have coole to.hand, but the greater portion of ,these have gone forward to manufacturing districts, no fewer than 270,000 bales being sent to those quarters. The result is that only 155,000 bales (including stocks held over) are available, and there will-bo no difficulty in shifting this weight of wool. One has only to contrast to-day's absorptive capacity of the trade with that of ten years ago to find that whatever quantity of wool is available at the-sources of supply and in London can be lifted easily, and especially when confidence reigns. We giyo below the arrivals for the. March series of sales during recent years r ARRIVALS FOR THE MARCH SALES. Gross Forwarded ■; Net arrivals. direct. ' quantity. Year. Bales. Bales. Bales. 1913 420,000 270,000 155,000 1912° 602,500 343,500 . 273,000 '.1011 470,800, 261,500 • 232,300 '1910 364,500 - 229,000 141,000 . 1909 424,200 ' 236,500 194,500' 1908 . 340,700 169,500 , 201,200. A . .GOOD INTERVAL. ' • This generation of woolnien has never known a time like.tho present, and from whatever standpoint the industry •is looked at, nothing but good can be ireported. All along, tho line business isgood and mills are busy, and with a prospective short supply, everybody, appears to be ready to operate, _ 'The recent interval has been characterised by an 1 excellent turnover and prices Jor tho coiibed article have -advanced. "A'sound situation and good-busioess-'alwayarpave. tlio, i way for an excelletit-c series ; 'of-, sales, r -and - altnough.one or two soft spots are reported, from - across the. Atlantic, ' still the European,situation is sound • enough; --It is j.ust .-possible that if America takes Jess ■ woolit: will relievo the European situation of the raw material, and this' is greatly to be desired. At the ■ same time hopes are entertained that when the revision of Schedule If is accomplished, a new era 'will open in, the, American textile industry, unless dear wool and a lack 'of confidence destroy the nerve of United States manufacturers. •

..: AN ENCOURAGING OPENING. ■ : Punctually at 4 p.m. tho bail-was-set rolling, ana beforo long it had gained considerable impetus, 'l'here were no fewer than five catalogues put before buyers on the opening night, on being exclusively composed of I'ulita Arena wools. At the very beginning it looked like being a brisk sale, and in this-re-spect anticipations wero iully realised.The selection was flu average one lor an opening day, ( although the inerinos lacked somewiiat in quantity as well as character. ' Still, there was sufficient submitted to test the mhrket, and to show which way the stream was running. The Home trado throughout tho sitting was-very much in evidence, at least when the colonial wools wire being sold. The Continental section was strongly in the front when the Punta Arona's wools wero under the hammer, and from first to last tho salo passed off splendidly, a really excellent spirit characterising the sitting. r As already said, tho Home trade, and particularly Bradford topmakers, wore strongly in evidence from first; to last. A few lots of the super went to the Continent, but tho bulk of..tho offerings fell to the bids-of the Home ti'ado. As far as one could see, merinos generally improved to the extent of id.: Wc certainly could see no further advance, although many quoted an improvement of 2J to 5 per cent, on the close of the January mictions; Scoured faulty wools were dearer to the extent of }d. to id., but really super fine grease merinos fetched vory little more than they would have done in January. ' _ ■ The selection of crossbreds was certainly an improvement on merinos, but here the buying strength of the whole market was strongly in evidence. The few fine '.50's to 56's wools missed American competition. and these'showed no advance whatever, compared with January prices. Medium and coarse descriptions made a better show, and here tho improvement was most in evidence. On tho whole, 46's quality wools advanced Jd„ and coarse crossbreds easily made a}<l. more, compared with the closing rates of last sales. Sliped wools also appreciated somewhat, while crossbred lambs made id. to ld. more. Tho few South African wools catalogued showed no appreciable change, while the Punta Arenas wools sold very similarly to tho New Zealand crossbreds. The opening results came up to expectations. everybody appearing to be satisfied with what took place. Of course, values hardly assume a settled appearance an the opening day, the majority being desirous of seeing a buying basis established. The strength displayed at the initial sitting was uncommonly good, and left no doubt as to tho position of the trade in regard to its being prepared to take, all available offerings. It can be taken for granted that there Vill bo an .excellent series, and as far as one can see-the Homo trade will again play a leading part as a buyer.

THE OUTLOOK. Messrs. 11. Dawson nnd Co. make Uie following observations with regard to the outlook"Tha market opens to-day undor conditions which ara notably sound and healthy, but with an absence of excitement or overstrain. Thero is now no keen hunger. for wool such as characterised the past two series. Tho colonial and South American.purchases have arrived in considerable quantities to the consumer, ami a 'famine' domand no longer exists. The level established at this should, therefore, bo' controlled more by the genoral outlook and tho actual position of supply and demand Hum by tho pressure of lmmedlato needs. Tho outlook is certainly good from whatever standpoint it is taken, tho only apparent adverse factor being tho risk which always attaches to high valitcsy Merinos are deiir, ami being so naturally render themyelvps nmennblo to' any untoward influences which nray develop. There is always the danger ol' a curtailment- of demand when rates are l'igli, but up to liuw consumption remains good in.nil centre?, and m all soils. There has been , for a long period a ■ very routicus? spirit in every section, ami this largely accounts'lor to-iinvV strength. ..'•"New business has bce.i restricted during the past interval, as was expected, feeing that many manufacturcr-i raised their pricca on February 1, but Largo oiihu'3

are in hand, and, moreover, this being the interval between winter and spring seasons in the cloth trade, a pause is natural. Thero has boon, however, since lust series a notable and jllstifiublo mmlt-niiig of values in crossbred 'tops, in which tlio improvement, was certainly due. Tiro position is undoubtedly tdrong, when tho supplies. for tho year aro taken into view. Tho shortages in Amtralnsi-n. aro mi fortunately likely to fulfil tho estimates given, and latest' udvicerf confirm the decrease lob 3 from 250,000 to ,'IOO,OOO bak'S. The dccretse in South Africa is moro difficult to estimate, but it will bo serious, and it is expected to reach at least 75,000 bales. In tho Homo markets tho settlement of the dyers" .strike, is all to the good, and prospects are most satisfactory, if further labour difficulties, tan be avoided. The long period of unscttlement and risullant stagnation ill the American trade is now Hearing its An extra session of Congress to deal with new tariff proposals is being called,' and there appear to be indications of determined efforts io expedite tho new legislation, and get it into operation without delay, Meanwhile, it cannot bo expected -that American consumers will take in foreign wool at 11 cents duty, with tho pi'ospccts of a drastic reduction within the next few months. Consequently the present demand from the mills for foreign wools is very limited, and machinery is far from being fully employed. There remains naturally a strong indisposition to make business until tariff matters are settled."