Thank you for correcting the text in this article. Your corrections improve Papers Past searches for everyone. See the latest corrections.

This article contains searchable text which was automatically generated and may contain errors. Join the community and correct any errors you spot to help us improve Papers Past.

Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image

LONDON WOOL SALES

' CROSSBREDS REGAIN LOST GROUND (Prom Our Special OorresDonSenU London, May 14, 1915. The sales are continuing under favourable conditions on the whole,-' and this week t{ie attendance has remained fully up to the average. It is really Remarkable the staying power which'v many firms possess, and one rejoices that with the majority there is little indication of them heing filled up. At ■ the same time some firms are not operating as extensively asthey did during, the first iten, days of the series, and the faot of America not purchasing freely, together with two or three big exporting, firms o£ Bradford and Huddersfield origin being denied thp privilege of crossbreds, these have not operated as we have, often seen. Wo un-; 'derstand that the Board of Trade has had wider consideration t the question of allowing crossbreds to bo exported, seeking the advice of certain members of the trade, but all alike recognise that the weight, of crossbred "wool" : in prospect is no mora than the Home Ifcrade will require, particularly in view of the fact that the war is not going to be.over as soon «s many expected.- -We need not , refer to .the tragic events of the past week, and itheir bearing upon the commercial world. Wool, .or at least textiles made' from wool, are of first importance to both soldiers and Bailors, dtharwise merinos would have beai very different to what they are. However, the textile trade as a. whole 'continues to enjoy a real boom. With big weights of yarns and piece goods going out, topmakers are still in a. mood for buying, and the catalogues this week have been - absorbed in : a very commendable way. It is quite-true that there are still some soft spots in evidence, but-all the same we have to record a .very, healthy state of affairs, particularly' for deoont combing merinos. Commission .woolcombers in Bradford-Will not have .very burry wools, and therefore topmnker's are showing preference to that' class of staple which is fairly free and .well grown/

Course of Merinos. > There have been submitted this week some fairly big quantities of merinos; in fact, fine wools still form the larger portion of the offerings.. This can only be expected, and merinos in the .'future will predominate at every; series ■• of silcs, due to such' increased quantities beirij* sent forward to Coleman Street. Adelaide wools have been particularly in the background, due to the inability of itlie, ware-house-keepers to g'et them out of the ships. It is certainly tantalising to a firm to know that they have considerable weights of raw material available for sale, and yet circumstances' are such that they cannot avail themselves of it. This we say is annoying to importers as well as sellers; and that very largely obtains in regard to a fair weight , of merinos that .ought to have been offered last week.. The auctions are going to be continued to the scheduled time, even though the offerings dwindle duwn to, say, 6000 to 7000 bales per day; It is the earnest desire of all sections of the frade to sell, in other words, to keep ,6tccks moving, and therefore the majority are of the opinion that it is policy to go' to the last day of the scheduled time, -and so keep wool moving into the hands of users with nil possibile speed. Importers know that big weights of raw-material will be coming on for realisation in London, and everybody seems opposed to a big carry-over. No doubt there'is wisdom in this, for .to keep thd raw material moving towards the combs and spindles'is certainly a commendable action. ' • The way merinos have sold this week has certainly been creditablo. ~ Readily speaking, good wools are 5 per cent, dearer, and it is some satisfaction to know that a steady, firm market obtains'for all good combing nierinos, though seedy, burry clips still drag, and will'continue to do so. There is to-day no disguising th.i fact that the trade does. not. want these wcols.-nnd when they are offered, as they are certain to' .be, owners must be prepared to accept a relatively lower price than if the wools had . been fairly free of fault,. The more one mixes with carbonisers. the more the fact is seen that they cannot/cope with the amount of business. offering. . The-writer has heard several say recently that they want no more orders this year, while eveij carbonising place in the country is bunged, out with wool awaiting treatment. -We hardly think that scoured merinos are making, the extreme prices they were, unless Russian competition is on the wools. : Somo very gowl lines of scoured merinos are now available at 25.: to 2s. 2d., though it is significant that when Russia wants them some excellent' prices are forthcoming, 2s. 2d. to 2s. id. being regular figures to-day. These are certainly commendable prices, and long may they continue. America has done little ■ buying, and we should say that 2000 bales covers the whole of her purchases to date. The highest prices this series have been made by Queensland squatters, the principal reason being that their wools are entirely free of burr,' that is unless the clips are grown in South Maranoa and Warrego, which are occasionally infested with this objectionable vegetable matter. There is no doubt to-day of faulty carbonising pieces, bellies, and locks being all at least 2d. per lb. below last sale's prices, and we cannot see how these wools can at all appreciate/ Some very v good combing ivools have been offered from New South Wales and also Victoria, while the West Australian wools have found Bradford buyers very keen indeed to : acquire them.' The fact, is, these wool are selling steadily at firm prices, but one misses materially the competition of American buyers, and as one importer said only a few days ago, the wools which America, was taking last series at lid. to 15d. are to-day occasionally Id. below that point. No doubt Bradford values last series are Bradford values to-day, but all the same, when a. good clip of wool is being offered well suited for American requirements, one feels a little sad at there being no American • competition prepared to pay the extra Id. 1 , which would establish values at .the highest point last'series. Crossbreds in Better Demand. ~ ; No doubt the event of the week has been the increased demand for cross-, brods, and theso have regained most of the ground lost by the end of the first week. Wo mentioned at the time that crossbreds, and lost practically 2d._ per lb. for qualities, ranging from 36's to 50's, while even halfbreds were generally a good Id. cheaper, compared with last series. Last week and this a hardening tendency was observable. Until to-day about Id. of that decline has been recovered. It means that the bulk of the wools are now only id. "below last series, while halfbreds owing to their comparative scarcity are sometimes making what they would have done last series. In other words; 17d. to 18Jd. has been paid jiftoflsr, .durjgfl tjsa BiSStojglit dMB

previously, and this renewed activity iq evidently traceable to a firm faith in the future'of crossbrc&s. During the first week of tho auctions some very cheap wools indeed were picked up, hut all tho same crossbreds cannot-be regarded as cheap to-day, and lGd. to 18d. are prices that we now seo paid every day for wools of good average characteristics. New Zealand certainly is turning out some very useful raw material, and the way the clip ia being absorbed is indeed remarkable. There has been a fair amount of buying: on French account, it being generally believed that one or two firms in France are working for the French War Oflice, and making military cloths. We hope this is so, though it is neiyß to many people in the trade to be told that a fair amount of -machinery is available on French soil outside Roubaix-Tourco-ing, which is certainly regarded as the principal manufacturing centre in France. A letter received in Bradford last week said that life in these two northern towns was normal, that the German troops were olfering no resistance .to the populace, and that mills were still intact. Scoured crossbreds are moving very, freely, and making very good prices, though the, anomaly of shped halfbred lambs making the same price as scoured halfbred is something for an outsider to think about. Both descriptions are moving exceedingly well, and certainly prices leave no room for complaint by- -Australasian pastoraliste, although theTe |3 still id, decline noticeable, compared with the close of last series for some of the greasy fleece wools. ' Conditions In Bradford. Increasing strength is' the feature of the market in Worstedopolis, and the conviction is growing that the trade is on the eve of further important business. The tendency of wool in London is certainly influencing Bradford, • and crossbred tops are distinctly firmer than a week ago. The majority ef- topmakers are today asking Jd. more than last Thursday, ond in 6ome cases have- been able to make it, while there is no accession of new khaki business, it-iq reported that a further important order has been placed on behalf of the French Government, and 'crossbred spinners are certainly receiving more inquiry for yarns for future delivery. Topmakers have had no time to accumulate stocks, and there is more inquiry, business being done to-day as far forward a 9 nex't August and September -at better prices than could be made last market day. In merinos there is also increasing strength. Many firms assert that they can make to-day 2s. 9Jd. for delivery of 64's within a month, and 2s. 9d. is a common price for next September. The difficulty of obtaining tops increasing' owing to lack of labour. It is no uncommon thing for big firms to have considerable standing machinery, particularly on a Monday night, and the trade is undoubtedly suffering in consequence. Spinners are all able to make exceedingly good prices for the delivery of yarns, and they are not particular about paying id. extra, so long as they can obtain fairly good delivery dates. Many firms anticipate larger requirements for delivery 4 very far forward, and the acuteness of the eituation'in this'-respedt increases. The chief canso of complaint in Bradford-to-day is tho inability of commission combers to cope wi'th the. weight of wol offering. There is work for many more hands than are at present available ,and this no doubt is all hindering consumption and pre;, venting big weights of w.ool from being turned into tops.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19150707.2.109

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2507, 7 July 1915, Page 11

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,765

LONDON WOOL SALES Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2507, 7 July 1915, Page 11

LONDON WOOL SALES Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2507, 7 July 1915, Page 11

Help

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert