LONDON WOOL SALES.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1998, 4 March 1914, Page 9

LONDON WOOL SALES.

PRICES IMPROVE, {From Our Special Correspondent.) London, January - 23. Tho market manifests signs -of strength, the work of tho past week being commendable in every sense of the word. The auctions have made good progress, and it can bo stated with certainty that no groupd lias been. lost. Many thought on account of tho somewhat quiet .opening that wo were in for .another series of unsatisfactory prices and a limited demand, but the opposite is transpiring. We considered at the time that the initial sale was a businesslike proceeding, and there is to-day evidence that. the. .series will finish with prices at the highest point. -This is nearly always the precursor of pood trado iii consuming centres, and it is a thousand times better to see a steady opening and a good .improvement made during.the courso of any. scries, than a boom .to begin with and a soft finish.

. , '' m .. .Merinos Firmer. , »;,y one looks over tho'course of the auctions, one is confronted with the fact that tine wools have continued to make very good progress, and each day's salo has been characterised by a demand for the raw material which can bo described as very satisfactory. Of course, the Some trade is doing by far the most buying, but the whole market is good and and it is some consolation to. know that the raw material finds favour with -every section of the trade. I'ho Continent during the ■ week has operated on a fairly cxtensivo scale, particularly Germany, .though France still remains leather quiet. .Various reasons are assigned "for' Houbaix-Tpurcoing spinners,; being on the slack side, the chief one being that they are landing big weights or' raw material, and that it is too niuch to expect firms to buy when they have enough wool arriving from Australia; .Germany is more active, and aa a result of ■■ the; increased inquiry, prices have more or less hardened. Wo find to-day tho best classes of wools sn all-round Jd- to Id. better than at tho opening, these remarks 'applying moro particularly to tho combing, clothing; and broken wools, tho more wasty and heavy descriptions remaining steady and firm. As a matter of fact, the homo trade is particularly keen to seoure good combing merinos, all for supplying existing and prospective needs." Tho home trade finds itself, compelled- to buy, and .it is a good thing for values that that is so. Scoured merinos 1 aro also making prices aboutequal to-fast series, though the extreme values their ruling are not always forthcoming to-day. Still prices -are very-good, and; better, still, tho raw material, is being called for in a very practical and sound way, withdrawals being very few indeed. Practically speaking, tho only wools taken , - in aro those which havo cost too much in the colonies, and on which a profit cannot always be realised in CoJf-niari Street. ; The market appears likely to remain firm. • ■

•This.week -there has been a big:selection of West Australian wools, it.being the time of the: year for theso to be catalogued. They are not. so well grown or in eiich good condition as a year ago, particularly .those from ,the north-west district of the State. Many clips are tender, mushy, and heavy in condition. Still they are commanding very good support at the hands of Bradford topmakers, and although here and there somewhat less prices arc forthcoming than a year ago, the aggregate returns will be no less, due to the heavier state of the clips. Tho. most outstanding feature of .the series so far..\hn.s,beeni,the' pronounced-call for good shaft-y, ■:loiigcombing wools.. Even if condition is not' altogether what it might be, if there is length, and.soundness, tho wools are beiiij* 'callodifor/iin !>rf-most '.encouraging :wayv''" We"call prices to-day firm' at. id. increase for the better classes,' .and/-there' iVa. steady, sound demand' "for wools-that'are more'o'r loss wasty. Scoured locks and pieces arc only steady at last sales' prices.- - '■'■ ■'■■

■ Crossbreds Dearor. Tho quantity of crossbreds available is somewhat' smaller) but the demand remains very satisfactory. It can be said that all descriptions are Jd. to Id. dearer than last series; in fact, tho demand has increased so materially that everything i*. Selling in a very different manner ..from that seen at the close of. tho December auctions. ■ America js taking .some nice lines, chiefly woolsthat are well grown, light and .sound, in fact,' they are still adhering to a largo extent to their old Ibvo, and are purchasing;only, the best parcels. There is a offering of sliped -wools, and for these last sales ,: closing rates ale. obtainable. The homo trado is taking by far the largest weight, but is in no. form for paying more money; yet the supply is so , limited that the attempt must bo made, consequently buyers arc forced to purchaso and pdy accordingly.. Scoured crossbreds are also somewhat sparsely represented, and are selling' freely at prices about equal to those made at the close of the last series. ■ At this series of London sales are being catalogued a few iiow clip from New Zealand, find'instead; of there being' the" usual 35,000 bales, the now clip wools are not represented by more than 2000 to 3000 bales.. However, a well-known coarse crossbred clip has been offered, grown near Wellington, and we givo bclp-w full selling particulars; showing what tho samo clip made in January a year ago, and also at the current series:—

BH CONJ. (N.Z. WOOL). Grease,' first combing, January 15, 1912, 12d.-, January 13, 1913, '11,} d.;grease second combing H lid., lljd. ; grease second combing.lo}d. "bid, lid.; grease third combing H IOJd., lid.; greaso third-combing 11-10 d., 11-93 d.; grease skirt pieces 9Jd., 9d.; greaso cut pieces S}d., Bd.: greaso bellies Bscl., Bd.; greaso locks 6Jd., sJd.j greaso first lambs 10d., IOJd. Several lots of wool have been catalogued this time which were taken in atHho December series, arid we givo below particulars of three good lots of crossbred wool which can bo taken as representative \ of tho different; prices ■obtaining tor crossbred wools compared .with last series:— -. ' •' ■' IIW/GORE. ■ " . Bid.-Sold. Nov. Jan. ar, u, ■ 1913. .1911. Description. ' Bales. d. d. Greasy, super. AJ- ■ '. ■ ' bred ..;...... 34 111 "12 Greasy, super B|- .•• ■ bred ....; 42 11 .. ; 11} "Greasy, super B ij- - : bred .., 11 11 Hi ' The market has shown considerable recovery sinco the opening, and seems Ito havo greatly surprised the various' branches of tho Homo trade. It seems almost imposs'blo to harmonise conditions in Bradford with those obtaining in . Colflinan Street,. and yet tho bulk of tho buying is taking place on West Hiding account. . That.really is where . tho anomaly oco.irs. On tho ono hand we havo an indifferent , market <n Bradford, where tho price- of tops is at least It!., too low, and yet both merino and crossbred wool is selling- almost as well as ever it did, and all round Id. hotter for medium and good wools compared with.tho closo of laat scries. The heavy, wasty parcels of uncertain yield arc not' fetching more, simply because those who bought theso wools in December havo had time to tost them, and have proved, them to bo "stinking dear." Still the fact romains that the raw material is selling uncommonly well, and there is not the lnast hesitancy about tho bidcling. Germany is taking moderate weights, bill French buyers i\ro only operating in a very limited way, that really being just the ono element of weakness which somo fear may develop further, hut we doubt if anything un*u>ward will happen.