OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2412, 18 March 1915, Page 8

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER

FIRST SERIES OF SALES

LONDON'S FIRM FINISH IM- i PROVES THE OUTLOOK f ( i (From. Our Special Correspondent.) j t Bradford, February 12.. r Since writing last the first series of ,o colonial sales have come to a finish, t closing last Saturday. One hears talk i at times of the British mill master j •being comfortably situated,,.and being ( able' to ride ill' his motor-car at any j hour of the day, but unlike the average British comber, spinner," or weaver,- ; who has finished when the engine stops ( at tweive, the wool-man has to toil j late on Saturday afternoon's when the ( wool sales are on. However, the noise j and clatter of the Exchange finished ( before 5 p.m., most Yorkshire buyers s leaving for home by the evening train. ( After three' weeks in. Coleman Street, ( all alike were glad to see the end. There certainly had been some pleasure* in , seeing wool sell at a different pace from ; what was witnessed in December, al- j though many Yorkshire topmakers who have sold heavily forward on a basis of ( 23d; to 2-ld. for good 64's tops, wanted , to' see wool remain at a . lower level j than it actually did. As a matter of j fact, all expectations have been ex- j ceeded, wool'selling in a .most commendablo way. One or two asserted j that when it became known that the embargo had been reimposed in Aus- ( tralia, merinos eased a little in Coleman j Street, but on the whole the auction's • finished well, with prices still maintained at the highest point of the series. Really speaking, . the whole auctions passed off in a way that did not look ; likely at the beginning of the ..year, ' but no doubt the.removal of the .embargo brought in considerably . more { buying power, and led to activity on j all hands: The effect of prices rising so materially leads one to the conclu- . sion that outside manufacturing nations must be very bare of supplies) ' they want the raw material, and there- j fore are prepared to pay 'very good figures. 1 Summary of Sales. j We give below the final results, of the auctions, comparing .them with the f finish of the December sales:— ] NEW ZEALAND. J Merino grease, good condition id. to < Id. dearer,, poor Id. dearer, inferior ( pieces and locks id. 0 dearer, scoured, i superior lid- dearer, average to good t 2d. dearer, inferior lid. dearer; cross- c breds; grease, fine, superior par to. id. t dearer, ordinary par to id. dearer, nie- 1 dium superior id. to Id. dearer, ordin- s ary.ld. dearer, coarse superior id. to t Id. dearer, ordinary Id., dearer, lambs, ] superior par, ordinary par to id. dearer, 1 scoured,. 1 fine par,' medium and coarse s id. to lij. dearer, slip©, fine par to Jd. { dearer, medium id. dearer, coarse Jd. t dearer. i 'Supplies and Values. According .to Messrs. H. Schwartze and Co., tie 'nominal total available amounted to 163,000 bales, of which, however, 7000 bales hid previously been disposed of, leaving a net total available of 156,000 bales.' Of these 139,000 i bales have been sold,'.; 121,000 bales for i Home consumption, and 18,000 bales 1 for foreign account (including 16,000 f bales'for America), leaving 17,000 bales i to be carried forward to next series. ' In their closing circulars all the ' .brokers oom'ment upon the ..marked rise f in values. No doubt the prices brokers i had bid cannot but gladden their hearts I and importers stated distinctly that 1 they were going to sell so long as the I Home trade was ready for the wool and < America,was competing keenly. .One of the outstanding features of the auc- 1 tiens was the competition of the United ; States. ' Of course, they have now a i free, hand,'and can purchase anything, < and it was a surprise''to many poopla ] to find 'American buyers taking faulty I Adelaides and-Wools " that they would < halve passed by. in disgust on former i occasions. If they could have fore- i seen the raising of the embargo in De- i cember,. and. bought accordingly they ' would often have saved ljd. per lb., i a-rid the' incoming of the States forced values to'an altitude' which no'one expected. . The Embargo. ! When it became known in Coleman ' Street that the Australian embargo has. : been reimposed against shipments 'to the United States,'considerable discußsion arose, there- being general agreement- among Home trade buyers that the American trade, had only itself, to thank for what had taken place. 'In fact, rthroughout the whole auctions Home .trade buyers said, some strong things about America wool-to Germany, and many, went the length of saying that the whole trade ought 'to meet together and unanimously pass a resolution demanding the embargo , being reimposed against both America and' all Continental neutrals. No _ doubt .the free way that merinos • sold led many to 'think"that; Germany would get her fill of wool, particularly in face of the tempting prices which they are offering. The fact iB merinos sold in an unexpected way," America • purchasing 15,000 bales. General surprise is also being felt at the Board of Trade not declaring the reimposition of an embargo in this country, but it can be taken for granted that licenses are not going to be granted at all freely ; in fact business will have to be done under very strong restrictions, and shipments' will now only be made to the actual users of tho raw material. What of the Future? No doubt unlooked-for conditions operated at the recent auctions in London. The difficulty which Yorkshire topmakers are experiencing in getting wool from the docks compels many to buy freely in Coleman-.Street, where supplies can bo had with considerable freedom. We may now expect, aud the heavy arrivals of the past few weeks means, that fairly big quantities must come forward to manufacturing centres. In fact one firm of topmakers say that they have now all the wool they want, aud are running day and night. The reimposition of the embargo has brought fcrth lower values in Sydney, and many, are already doubting the ability of the trade to absorb 90,000 bales of merinos in the course of ten days. Certainly no i one expects any advance on recent rates, . and no surprise need be felt if at the • end oi the first .'week in Coleman Street a fall of 5 per cent, is experienced. W« I feel certain that the Board of Trade would grant freely the privilege to America to get all the wool she wants if an undertaking would be given not to allow wool and other textile products to > be shipped to Germany, but it is very doubtful in the absene'e of these assur- " anccs whether America will obtain fur- ' ther liberal shipments. If the war is ; going to last a considerable time all • the wool available will be wanted for home use; ccrtainly all the crossbrcds ' and. a vor.y large proportion' of the merinos. The outlook to-day is certain- - ly excellent for trade, and wo do not expect even merino price's to suffer a great deal, notwithstanding the.altered . conditions which have arison during the - wesk.' ■. .