LONDON WOOL SALES.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1909, 18 November 1913, Page 4

LONDON WOOL SALES.

FIFTH SERIES CLOSE FIRM. A WOOL HUNGER STILL. tFrom Our Special Correspondents.) Lendon, October 10. lhe fifth series of auctions aro uvcr, practically all buyers Vent home on Wednesday, tho Wool Eschango saleroom being onco more .hushed in silenco. Thero still linger same pleasant nicinories of what has beeii seen during the past fortnight, and from whatever standpoint the series is viewed nothing but good 'can be said, iii regard to it. It is quite true that we have not seen values ■ ascend very' materially in merinos, Jbut the sales hasve had more "vim" associated with them than was seen in July,-and whatever 4>lse may be said 'concerning them it must be reported that the raw material is dominant. It has been'- again the case of tho unox-*-pectgd happening, wool selling better than' the' majority 'over thought it would. It only confirms the opinion *we have had : for a considerable time, namely that supply and demand in Scriptural phraseology have kissed each other, and notwithstanding quieter conditions in manufacturing centres, the Wearer is .'still near tho sheep's back. The autumn has not produced tho pinch which tho majority were looking far, dtio' chiefly to the slackened consump- • tion on tho Continent, particularly Germany, but notwithstanding the many adverse factors which tho trade has had : to pass through during the past six months, we tipd wool values'still, practically intact, and the taw material in a very strong position. We-Consider that the chief result of the auctions has been to demonstrate, the sound standing of the raw material, and. very little indeed would send prides further ujj* ward, although at tho moment tlioMs is perhaps nothing to spur things on in that direction. Demand for Wool No ono can sit* in Coleman StreetWool Exchange and watch the competition of the various sections of the trade without feeling that- thero ■is still a .wool hunger, although pcrlraps the appetite of buyers has hardly been so keen as we have frequently seen. Still, wants exist which can only be filled with the oncoming ne*w clips from Australia and South Africa, arid lneriaos have all through continued to sell in a most encouraging Way. The catalogues have contained a good Sprinkling of new clip from Queensland, New Sotitlx Wales, and West Australia., and full justice has been done to the offofliigs. Buyers havo shown preference to wools of good length, and in good average condition, and undoubtedly the bestconditioned wools havo -sold most, satisfactorily. It is patent that the coming Australian clip is going to be heavier in condition and Somewhat more wasty than its predecessor, seed being much more plentiful in the. Queensland clip than a year ago, lu fact,' tho whole trade seems a littlo- disappointed with tho clip,of the Northern State, no doubt, the luxurious growth contributing to the excess of vegetable matter. It is a good thing that there aro facilities for dealing with seed, sliiv, and burr in a fairly successful way, otherwise this vegetable matter would be' a very troublesome element. There* are still many firms that prefer Wool as free as possible, this no doubt, being the reason for the very good prieos which havo been forthcoming for New Zealand scoured merinos, and these wools being practically free • from seed and burr, have commanded exceedingly good figures. Of course there a.ro ccrtain districts where "biddy biddy" is verytroublesomo, and plays havoc with many, a clip, but. seldom do. we see merinoa troubled with this objectionable seed. What has hung fire most has beoii the heavy second-hand parccls, which havo been knocking about for many months, and which all through havo presented a . rather unattractive appearance. These wools have nevet sold what njay.'be called satisfactorily, and as the series came to a finish they in no Isense improved their positio.il.-, \Wo should say that three-fourths of tlie withdrawals have consisted of these wools, and owners will lia,ve to face a loss unless the market appreciates. Wo have boon- very favourably impressed by the sale of scoured wools throughout the. entire auctions, and isome excellent'figures'-'have be® forthcoming. No doubt • the -comparative scarcity of the wools ill question lias contributed something towards their sale, but Wo certainly think f-iiai* all descriptions of scoured merinos liave appreciated id. to Id. por lb. Tilts South Australian brands have given unmistakable evidence of this, and the wools sold have'mot with a very firm market, particularly for the average classes. It i 3 always wise in London to 'havo somebody on the spot to protect one's interests, and when low prices are bid it is wise for selling brokers to have given theni firm limits. Tile Adelaide scourcds CU/H are as well known as any in the London market, an<i they always command tho unreserved attention of all buyers During the last week of tho series a string of theso wools was offered, almost every lot of which had been withdrawn from t'ho previous sales. We give below particulars of this brand, the prices bid in July, •' .1913, being placed first and the price paid in September last in parenthesesl3 bales scoured super combing, Is. Bd. (Is. B£d.); 9 bales scoured super A combing. Is. 7}d. (Is. BJd.); 6 bales scoured super A combing,' Is.. 2d. fls. 3d.); 8 btrles scoured super A combing, Is. Id. (Is. 2d.); 11 bales scoured S• combing, 1-s. 3}d..(ls. 4d.); 2 hales Scoured super S combing, Is. 2d. (Is. 3d.); 5 hales scoured first pieces, Ist. 25d, (Is, 4}d.); 7 bales scoured first A.A nieces, Is. 2*Jd, (Is. 3d.); 4 bales scoured first S pieces. Is. Id. (Is. lid.); 3 bales .eepured first Std. pieces, Is. Id. (Is. 2jd.)i 6 Mes scoured first 1111 pieces, lid. (Is. 2-Jd.); 3 bales scoured first G pieces, lid. {Is. 2d.); 3 bales scoured first G pieces;

IOJd. (Is.); 9 bales scoured AA pieces, is. Oid. (Is. lid.); 8 bales scoured A pieces, Hid. (Is. Id.); 6 bales scoured S pieces, (Ib. lfd,); 7 bates scoured S pieces, llid. (Is. OH-) i 7 hales scored S pieces, llid. (Is. Id.): 3 bales scoured lambs. Is, Id. (Is. 3d.); 10 bales scoured crossbred super, Is. 2Jd. (is. ■id.); 1 bale scoured crossbred first, Is. (Is. • OJd.); 5 bales scoured crossbred first pieces, 9d. (9Jd). Crossbreds Finish Strong. It is very satisfactory to know that crossbreds finished creditably; in fact, •no weakness whatever developed' as tho end drew near. ■ The last few days of the series found prices fully equal to the best, and the inquiry oh the part of America also continued. The United States has not really talsen a big weight of wool, indeed, her requirements have run very much upon limited lines, but all the Same the competition from that quarter proved very acceptable, and strengthened the situation all round. General surprise was expressed that New Zealand sliped crossbreds were, being purchased for tho United States, but we say that we have evidence in this that under free wool all doscriptious-of raw mitteriat will receive support at the hands of United States buyers, providing its spinners and manufacturers can rim their mills. Wo must admit that, the duty on imported tops—B per cent.—is smaller than we anticipated, and many have an impression that tops will form a lending part in the partly-manufactured materials which aro certain to bo shipped from Bradford. Whether wool or tops be takijn. will not matter a great deal, although wo must admit having a preference to wool being shipped. Values generally, rcinaiied .very firm..

with dcmnisd coming from both tho homo and Continental trades, although naturally Bradford buyers secured tiio bulk of tk& offerings. Taking the auctions as a whole, wo certainly think that- the way crossbrods sold is remarkable.; in fast-, the wools went- better than tho majority expected. All descriptions may be called an avornge 5 por cent, dearer than last- series, and all alike are agreed that nothing near such cheap wools- was secured ns m July. Changes Seen. The following summarises tho whole course of tlie auctions, and shows the changes when compared with the close of tho previous series:—

Australasian Wool. Greasy merino, superior, par; greasy nuii'i.llo, average to good, par; greasy merino, poor condition, par ta $d. cheaper; greasy merino, inferior locks and pieces, par; scoured merino, su* |?c.rior, i<l. to Id. higher; scoured merino, average to good, -J-d. to Id. higlwr; seourcd merino, inferior, -}d. to Id. higher; scoured merino, faulty locks and pieces-, id. higher; greasy merino, lambs, superior, par; greasy merino, lambs, medium, par; -greasy merino, lambs', inferior, -par; greasy crossbred, toe.superior, £d. higher: greasy crossbred, fine ordinary, id, higher; greasy crossbred, medium superior, jd. higher; greasy crossbred, aediuih ordinary, $d. higher; greasy crossbred, coarse superior, -Jd. fiighor; greasy crossbred, coarse ordinary, par to $d. higher"; greasy crossbred, lambs, superior, par; greasy crossbred, lambs, ordinary, parj scoured crossbred, fino, par; scoured crossbred, medium and coarse*, j>ar; slipo crossb-reds, fine, par to }d. -higher j slipo crassbreds, medium, par to jd. higher; ■ s-lipe crossbred, coarse,, par; greasy Punta* Arenas, well conditioned, Jd. higher; greasy Punta Arenas, wa-st-y, par; greasy Falkland Islands, par to id. higher. South African Wools. Snow whites, su.pe.-r, id. higher; snow .whites, medium, |d. higher; snow whites, inferior, par; greasy combing, light, par; greasy combing, heavy, par; greasy elo-thin-g, light, fully par; greasy clet-hing, heavy, par. Daring tlie auctions' 154,513 bales ■ have been catalogued, and 146,000 bales sold. Export has taken 60,000 bales, ■ including 4000.f0r America, while 37,000 bales tmoffered find withdrawn at auction are held over for the November sales. The concluding series for this year commences on November 25, and t'ho fixtures for 1914 have been in ado by the Importers' Committee as follow First series, January 13; s<;co*»d series, March 3; third series, April 28; fourth series, July 7; fifth' series. September 29; sixth j series, November '2-4. ,