YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2268, 30 September 1914, Page 9

YORKSHIRE LETTER

BELGIUM'S TRADE IN WOOL,

(From Our Special Correspondent.) London, August 14, 1914. Another week lias passed, and still business in wool is to a large extent at a standstill. We understand that sevoral selling brokers have had inquiries from Yorkshire for New Zealand sliped crossbred lambs, particularly from tlio

Canterbury works, a proof that there is a prospect of business in that particular class of raw material. We hardly see much prospect of any real omove until a few decisive battles have been fought, mid wo know where things actually stand. It is remarkable to find primary consuming centres remaining rairly steady, although naturally there is not a.great deal doing. We know of a few sales of merino tope taking place dur■'lig tlie past week, but unfortunately » littlo less has to be taken, and the wonder is that things are not more demoralised.

TRADE OF BELGIUM. . Seeing that hostilities to-day are centring so largely upon little Belgium, a few remarks about the wool trade done, by'that country cannot be amiss. Our only regret is that we cannot at tho moment lay our hands, upon statis? tics of the business actually done b> Belgium, at least the full imports and exports'.■ That country plays an important'part in the colonial,trade and firms iu Antwerp are also _ large, buyers of South American merinos and crossbreds, several firms in that having an importing connection both with Buenos Aires and Monte, yideo. Ant ; werp is an important shipping port for wools entering and being consumed in Germany as well as Belgium, and theoutbreak of hostilities between th* cn\ countries. must ibe seriously affecting wool business, Let us consider, to-day the part Belgium plays in the colonial wool trade.

Headers in, Australia know that Ter» viera has special advantages for carbonising and scouring big weights of the shorter and more faulty merinos, for spinning into Belgium yarns. It is a very important centre for consuming colonial wools, and we hope that its large mills will-remain intact during tho present sea'ious trouble.' Verviers eeeme to be blessed by Nature in a remarkable manner, the character of its water being second to none on the face of the globe. Anybody handling faulty wools which have to be carbonised and made useablo for manufacturing purposes knows the' value of a<never-'.failing stream of eoi't water, arid Verviers possesses that. AA'e have watched for twenty years the large operations of one buyer who hails from the town of Verviers, and splendid competition is given by that party for. quite a number of important people in that district. Their speciality is the purchasing and working up of faulty Australian scoureds in particular, and big weights ' also or' greasy and scoured locks, bellies, and pieces are worked up in A r orviers every month. In fact, wo can say thai Arerviers is really ■ the largest individual consuming contro' in tho entire world for Australian faulty merinos, no other district that we know of shifting month in, month out, such big weights. Tho reader will therefore see how important that centre is to tlio colonial trade; in fact, any class of merino wool of the worst end of the fleece can be used in that centre, carbonising being largely adopted, and also scouring. Of course ivheii wools are carbonised, that is freed ot the seed, shiy and burr ,the chemical used in the operation has to be clean washed out of tti© remaining stuff otherwise it would play sad havoc and eat itself into ■ the fibre until. there' was .nothing left. But Verviers' scour- j crsvseem to have mastered the art of taking these second-hand' wools and making them into a very useful produot indeed Big weights are afterwards sold throughout Europe, but a' still more important part of their manipulation is that they are turned into woollen yarn, big quantities of which are exported to England as well as other parts of the Continent. At one time :he trade was so big that they made for themselves quite a.name, and even today the extent of the Belgian yarn purines with England is large. , it will bo seen from the above that Jelgmm sends us more woollen yarns tor weaving purposes than all the other countries put together, and it can be taken for granted that this big weight of\ woollen yarn imported represents entirely the second and third-rate class of colonial merino wool, all of which have been carbonised, and afterwards spun into a weavable yarn. Whether it be cheap labour or a combination of other factors as well, Yorkshire spinners cannot produce yarns of the same quality'and. smallness as Belgian spinners, and this is one reason why they are largely bought by firms who do; nothing else but' weave dress goods and men!s wear fabrics. Antwerp no 'doubt is the principal centre .of the wool trade of Belgium, and it possesses, an important terme market, though whether this is of any real good to the wool trade of Belgium is open to two opinions. No doubt a huge business is done there every week in paper transactions/although several hinis use it legitimately by way of covering any forward sales of tops and yarns where actual deliveries have to be made. Still, trie terme market is too often, used for "rigging" or "slumping the market. / AVOOL SELLING FREELY FOR KHAKI CONTRACTS. A feature of the week's business has been the sales of raw material for the production of khaki-contracts placed by the British-Government. Most interest has centred aroun dthe operations on this account. It is a fact that some fair sale's have beenT effected chiefly in New Zealand slipes, as well as some English fleeces and skins, also New Zealand fleece, qualities ranging fijom 36's to 50's. . A few finer wools than these have been sold, but not a great deal, as tho bulk of the orders placed cover coarse crossbred materials. Officers' uniforms are to-day made from fine crossbreds and merinoe, but the bulk of the wools, required are 40's to 46's, and these are all for the rank and file clothing. Navy blue serges are also probably made from coarse and medium crossbreds, hence a fairly healthy business has been put through chiefly in New Zealand sliped crossbreds, which do admirably for that purpose. A few medium and low crossbred tops have also been sold, part of these being used as.worsted warps, in conjunction with awoollen weft, out it matters not how they are used so long as the raw material is wanted. Business doing in the merino tops is very limited, and apart from a spinner buying here and there a few packs just to cover existing needs, there is very little doing. Prices remain steady, in fact, medium and low crossbreds are just a shade firmer than last week, but merino tops hare changed hands at as low as 2s. 7d. for a good 64's. Still, the market can be called diijthq whole nominally steady.