LONDON WOOL SALES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2691, 10 February 1916, Page 9

LONDON WOOL SALES

NEW RECORDS IN COLEMAN STREET (From Our Special Correspondent.) London, December IG. n The Bales were resumed last Tuesday in good style, there being apparently 110 falling off in attendance and no diminution in the interest taken over the course of ; values. The temper of the sale room stands out in strong contrast to what was witnessed a year ago, and things are the very opposite to what were then seen. As a matter of fact, there is to-day an aver- ; age of 50 per cent, more being paid for decent combing wools compared with that d«jte, the advance often being more. nool6 that were selling a year ago at JOd. would to-day quite easily mak6 16d. to I'd., and when one sees these big prices being paid for wool it revives memories of 1899. The calamity howler is already abroad, but pessimists are shouting in a wilderness, and there is apparently no one near enough to hear their doleful sounds. It is really remarkable that our colonies as well as London can do without any competition from Germany and Belgium, and precious little from France, and still prices are being paid for the raw material which exceed those of 1899 when all sections alike were in their pomp and glory. Nobody likes to entertain the thcught of a serious setback in and certainly it would be a calamity if the commercial world was shaken ftt a time like the present. We hardly fclunk it will be, but all the same, with values where they are, many think it is best to follow a policy of consolidation, and not attempt to push them to a still higher level. Values Compared with a Year Ago, It is very instructive to look ' back twelve months to see how values have travelled, in the wool trade, and to do so has been very beneficial during the past week. The last 6eries of the year always sees a good many standard new clips submitted from Australia, and some acceptable marks have been already catalogued. 11 Sundance, from Queensland, toucht v *°. r S roaße combing, and quite tr hflst of clijis have sold from Is, 7d. to Is. 7i, even jNed'c? Corner making the latter price last Saturday. Surely for good, well-known shafty. 60's wool these prices cannot be despised, and serve to show what are the _ figures ruling for deccnt wools. The clips as a whole from Australia tbiis season are certainly droughtaffected, many being shorter in staple than usual, though as a rule they show plenty of quality. West Australia is also well in evidence, and Bradford topmakers, who always purchase these wools very extensively, are at the present time very bus}* absorbing everything of combing length. Very few Riverina clips have 'been , I so * ar > an d we expect these to be rather lighter than usual on account of shearing labour being by no means plentiful. btill, New South Wales has been very adequately represented, and some orst-class clips have "been offered. Of course. Queensland has been very much m evidence with some of her southern, grown clips, and it is remarkable that fchey have made price sensibly higlior than in 1899, in fact, wool at that time tor well-known clips was fetching no moro than Is. 4d. for the top lots of grease combing, whereas to-day Is. 7d. is 11, daily occurrence. Shafty, broken, and pieces arc also in the clouds. The market is exceedingly strong, all due to tho extraordinary demand that one meets with both on home and export account. 1 Scoureds Making Big Figures. Ihe- days of high values for scoured wools are here, aud I do not remember piesent prices being exceeded, except for »i few bales of very superior West Victorian iambs' wool, wiiich occasionally have made 45.. per lb. Still, for coi/ibing lots, when is. bif has been made on tormer occasions, the price has looked remarkably big. It mud© one long the other day to see here in Englaud the woli-lcnon Shaw clip, which for fineness of quality and get-up is seldom bcaton. The Gibb brand from Port Phillip is a well-known scoured skin wool, In find a lot of combing make 3s. 2Jd. is 1 indeed a record. On the opening day of the series this same brand made lis., but last Saturday it touched 3s. 2k1., 1 Russia again being a keen buyer. One cannot but fool glad that our Ally is still in the held, not even King Winter being powerful euoU',-11 to knock out buyers, for they are Mill purchasing freely of good desirable scourcd parcels. One used to think that 2s. 2d. was a big price for overage merino scoured combing wool, but steadily values have advanced until lodfty 2s. sd. to 2«. 9d. are the sfan-.. dard. We are positive that, mnny West Riding users will be nonplussed when they are confronted with scoured merinos bought this series of ©ales, even faultv wools selling distinctly better. We call good scoured combing'wools to-day at least 3d. dearer than la&t series, medium wools may. be called fully 2d., and faulty wools are often Id. to H higher, the call for merinos being stronger than ever. Withdrawals are exceedingly light; in fact, no woo! is being taken in unless it bo second-hand lots, which are too hiahly limited, and an import wool? generally a real good profit is being made. Crossbreds in the Clouds. The scarcity of good greasy fleece wools has resulted in extraordinarily good prices being paid for the few straggling lots which are being catalogued, and no one knows what to put the advance at. Last week-end up to Is. lOd. was paid for greasy fine crossbreds, for which Is. Bd. would have been considered a very big figure la&t series; in fact, Is. 9d. li Is. 10d. seem to-day to bg current values lor anything really good. It was evidently a case of two or three firms, who must have the wool, and there was 110 end lo the bidding. In fact, it is useless today anyone trying to value good wool, and those who must have crossbreds must take them at the best price they can get them at. Scoured crossbreds are moving in an extraordinary way, although hers generally the advance is no moro llnui Id. on last series. The keenest demand is met with for fine crossbreds. and posibly Italy is operating. Other classes are selling anywhere from Is. lOd. to 2s. 3d M ft depending entirely upon what the wool is like. Scoured crossbred sfctn wools from Australia continue to realise oxtiT-ne figures, in fact, it is marvellous that the top of 2s. 4d. xSliould.be realised for SG's to f)B's quality wools. No doubt the .great onslaught which has been made for this quailt.v tops in Bradford during recent weeks largely accounts for wool of this quality realising such extreme figures, and everyone knows there can be no New Zealand new clip here till next February. Sliped crossbreds continue to be largely catalogued, in fact this class of staple forms nine-tenths of the crossbred wools which are available. We still cannot see a great.deal of change in the sale of the?* wools compared with last "erics. and halfbrcd lambs still realise from 2s. to 2s. lid.; three-quarter-bred lambs is lOd. to Is. Ud.; Leicester? about Is. Orl. to Is. f).}d„ and Lincolns in the neighbourhood of Is. Sd. to Is; 9d. Tops Again Dearer in Bradford. The present time of the year is one in which many experienced members of thfc trade generally look with some suspicion upon any advance in prices, and at this juncture there are indications particularly among spinners that they are looking for the opportunity to buy tops at more reasonable figures. Actual conditions show that the wish is very largely the father to the thought, and spinners themselves as well as those who are particularly interested In the export section of the trade do not profess to expect any depreciation in the price of yarns. These two conlradictory arguments are largely tho result of the exceptional experiences through which the wool textile fr'ade is now passing, and though the time is.-aer-tr-in. to come sooner or later when all valups will fall decidedly hnlow the level at which they now stand, there is no m.ospeot of sup,h a thin? hnnnening in ib* immediate future. Machinery of all k'nds is very fully occupied, the pressure being almost greater than can I>p borne. •Spinner? are indifferent about buying tons because llipv have already more business i»« hand than they ran cope with, and , the same thing applies to topmnknrs. rombinqr wnchinovy havine not the slightest nrospect of any abatement for many months (0 come. The price of the raw material ip al*e influence bear<r Vfi-v «i-r.v- r lv fh* citneand th* with which we-ol Jb*J

used 'or some considerable time lias passed, shows that underneath tile speculative remarks respecting lower values, their lies n very strong confidence in the [uturo manufacturing nrospccts of the trade. The total results of all these combined circumstances (and it may be a<lded in some cases, ill spite of tliein) is that the prices being paid for all quantities of colonial tops aro higher to-daj; than they cere a week aso. Consumptive requirements are excejdingly good, and 110 better indication of the healthiness of the present state of affair? could be found than in lha fact that the tops being bought to-day by spinners are uiosilv for known iccds.