LONDON WOOL SALES

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2128, 21 April 1914, Page 10

LONDON WOOL SALES

THE DEMAND GOOD

PRICES RULING FIRM

. (From Our . Special Correspondents.) London, March 33. ■ The sales continue to mak'o excellent progress, and there is a. full maintenance of last week's atandanl of values. For tho time being it looks as if prices had reached the highest point, niid buyers now , are contenting themselves with purchasing steadily at last Week's best rates. Tho market" gives Bia.nr hsdications of strength, and the present series are going to show distinctly that tho raw material is "still a, usawo commodity, and well worth the patronage of all users. It is true that for tho time being it ia looked upon as worth no iboto j than it is making,.at least nobody soivnis ] to have much inspiration to talk <ii it, being dearer unless trade materially improves in homo consuming circles, there yet being some Bradford nsors who make no secret ; of their opinions, asserting that they expect to see crosshreds slightly easier next May, when there should be a big weight available.: Still jiohody .talks very enthusiastically on that score. - Many hold the view that the i-iw-. material has reached its maximum value, but all the same a very big' factor is - now ■ having to bo reckoned with) which has not .been seen, for the past twelve months, and the fairly extensive buying of America, is influencing prices very materially in an -upward ttfrsctiou. That is really the outstanding feature of the current series of sates, atid when the record comes to be written special emphasis will have to be laid.upon the attitude of American buyers" at the March series of sales. It ean be said truthfully that Americans are iayitiß themselves oiit for doing a good trade in home-made textiles, and w© sincerely hope that their' enterprise will bo re* warded by real good orders being placed for wool-made fabrics. We seo no r<jason whatever why they should not do the bulk of their own trade, aijd -we are fully expecting to see their .mills running, even though 'Margins are lean and no profits are earned.

What America is Doing. The question is well worth asking: What class of wools are being favoured by American buyers? The answer v> easily given, for practical); all descriptions of raw materials, including merinos, crossbreds, Oapss, and Piißtit Arenas wools, aro being taken. United States operators can fcewiay,. afford to extend the scope of their operations, and we see no reason why they cannot successfully purchase and manipulate belli merino grease- and scoured?, including medium wools. We know for a fact that they are even valuing scoured picces'and bellies, and rightly so. Tho backbone of tho. West ltiding Wftolfen, trade, ©r what is known across the Atlantic as the carded woollen trade, has been, built up in the West Riding by the .purchase and j use of large lines of Australian clothing wools, everything from 10d. fecoured locks to 2s. clean scoured lambs, In. fact, tho woollen trade to-day is the biggest' buyer of' locks, jjieces, bellies, and broken wools, something.that after' being carbonised and eleausec! pi vegetable matter suits the production of large lines of woollen fabrics. We have seen the most unattractive material' turned to Teal, good account in the production of medium fancy woollen cloths, and we have seen Americas buyers valuing this very class pf rsw material in Colemaa Street during the past week. Good shafty scoured pieces are to-day available anywhere from Is. 4d. to. Is. Bd., and when blended with munge'and cotton they produce sopje- really sownd wearing fabrics at rea-soiialjte prices. Many firms in the West Hiding are complaining bitterly at all faulty wools such as we have jianJed being one penny dearer than \n January., but it only shows what the demand is. Verviers buyers are also keen competitors for this class of wool, which when carbonised is spun into Belgian yarns, materials wlikh are known throughout the world, and the reader ©an see that full value is being paid for all these faulty, yet nevertheless rery'-Us-able, raw materials.

Cood Prices Paid for Mefinos. The, past week has witnessed the cata* loguing of some really excellent clips from all the States in the Coninjotiwoalth. Some good s&afiiy parcels have been catalogued, particularly from the south-eastern which have sold , admirably. It is quite tme that the bulk of these consist of second-hand lots, but they have been in no sense neglected, having been called for in a remarkably satisfactory Way. ■ West Australian wools also haye been fairly freely catalogued, and made very good figures indeed. Clips from that State have lost none of their attractiveness to Bradford topmakers, who are .paying prices which compel one to say that wool is dearer. A good many of these clips must- cost •2s. 7d. in the top, and even mo-rc- if the i wools are combed by themselves. We j have seen 45 and 46 per cent, wools : realising 12Jd. to 13d. When we eome j to. the fine-haired wools from. New South Wales,, big figures ate being realised.. If we take the New England wools, up to Is. 6d. for the grease is being paid, and even West Victorian w«*ols are mak-ing-almost record prices. Up to Jβ. ?d. was paid last week-end for the EO wools belonging to the executors of -tfao .late Mr. Thomas Shaw, thfs clip being among his best, as well as his Shaw brand grown upon Yancannia. station in New South Wales, the scoured clothing making up to 2s. lid. New SWlaftd metinos are making equally as geod figures. 14d. to lod. being regularly paid, We fay that when these prices are fairly analysed they show that tteol is moving mostly "i to 10 per cent, higher than at the January sales, and We certainly think that the raw material to-day is at its maximum commercial v»W. Scoured merinos are rather scarce, and anjv thing, at all decent seems to bo making about Id. more than kst series. •

American Activity In Cfossbreds, Some excellent Jines of Neiv Zealand new clip wools have been submitted, to which full justice is being done. Wo find here that American competition is seen at the maximum, and jiearly all tho best lines are being appropriated for tho American market. There seems to fee a variety of opinions regarding the condition and character of the current Neiv Zealand clip. Hawke'e Bay wools aro in splendid condition, they are Sight, soft, silky in appearaaco, and ir<> h&vo seldom scon them better. There is cor* tainly room for improvement in th« classing and grading of several of them, but all the same the wools aro there, and American buyers are revelling in purchnsing fairly bis; weights. They arc showing their preference for good 44's to 48's crossbred*, and paying fro-m 12Jd. to 13} d. for them. S«rae of the South Island wools aro fatty and rather dingy, a clear proof that the sheep have been on excellent pasturage, "We daresay, the majority of tho clips aro from 3 'to o per cent, heavier, than a yearago; but on thn. whole the wools are eounrl, and of fair avoraso length. Thero is no big quantity of halfhrctl wools, and 50's to 56's are ratnor scarce. ..Tlicso nro soiling anywhere from 13d. to 14Jd. The bicsest rise is certainly seen, in course and medium qualities, ryen deop •iO'a flcoco wools selling up to ISjd. We call all these classes at f<pll Id., higher than they, wore in Janttrfry, and 10 per cent, is an ayefagfi advance for tbeso wools. Material advances aro nlso bßiiiK paid for sliped wools. Tim'rise hero lining Id. to lid. per II). During the last night or two medium greasy crossbred* have barely m»tle thft extreme priws seen during the first ifcree or four nights

of last.rreek, l>ut thc,v : are stiljftboultld:! higher than ;.f ■•■ . The P!6ec 'Tifatle.:f;;«S:^'|/^ : : There is rtot a great deal no>v 10. say in regard to. tho piece'trade.'■ Wo arc finding-a.Ugger trade .doing-tuan the ei'ijority expected-to see, : last urolith » exports' clearly -showing how. tlio lam! lies. ' America seems at the moment, to"'be taking some big lines'of specinliti"S including some good ranges o\ dress goods, mostly for.iho next fall. Wo find Hudklor*n?ld tweeds figuring extensively, and also some heavy Isal-lev-triado "stuff, mostly thick overcoatings, and the like. Among dress go-ids,, Bradford is shipping. Henriettas,, lermos ' airni an endless variety of cotton and wool-dress goods, including mohairs and lustre fabrics. A few bluo serges i nroalso being.taken, but no big weigbt. .Some very rood lines of worsted ceati.ics. ara'also king shipped, but tho duvclopruent here is Dot so extensire as one aright expect. Tho exports tor le.b> ruary have cons© as. a staggerer to this market, in fact no.one thought they would touch over half a million- sterling. Still,.it shows what Bradford can do'and-intends ta do. American mills are going to be pushed to'their nttwsst limit Bv way of cotflpctition, bnt the oreat rise in wool is going to handicap a tow. American manufacturers will have to pay the «arae prices as their Bradford opponents, but at the Sara© time West Hiding spiraers and mam* facturers «an do the beat when .WSI is cheap. The American Woollen Company have, made no further _ progress oscept preparations for sfcowmg their mMiufacture-s, but nothing has actually been done- as yet. -Wool prices have broueh't business to a largo extent to a s tatia.stiH, and'in Bradford M-day very few indeed are prepared to follow Loieman Street, for tho simple reason that the majority have bought and covered for tW next' three months, and being still doubtful about to-day's prices bein» roaiiitained, they are aot going to buy hand and fist. Bradford to-day is in "a waiting attitude, tho marset is quiet, ljut quot-ationß for tops are very i firm indeed. -