OURYORKSHIRE LETTER
; * A TREMENDOUS ADVANCE i IN VALUES i (From Our Special Correspondent.) Bradford, December 30, lilla. J here are times in cue's life when it pays to staud still and consider, a,ml to go oyer in thought the ground wliich ' one has traversed, and ascertain where • one stands. The past year has certainly been a time of unparalleled good t6 the wool trade in general, and is coining to a k ,ll£ l} wM everything in a remarkable ? D i". wl 'iter has ofteli contended that little good was to be done with giving trade reviews, but it is customary, and wo might to-day briefly epitomiso the workings of tho past twelve months and gain profit by bo doing. Unparalleled War Conditions. , The year 1915 will ever be remembered as the one in which the greatest war of history was waged. Every section of tho world's trade lias been more or less disorganised by this great upheaval, and conditions were brought about which immediately beforo the war would have bren considered absolutely impossible. It it always easiest to ' express ' opinions at'tor the event, and experience has proved that this is much safer than prophesy. It is now exceedingly interesting to read 60incj of tho attempted forecasts made by . those who were interested in the wool trado and had an intimate connection therewith, during the early stages of the presom hostilities. Nobody anticipated Mich tremendous advances in prices as have actually been seen, and those who wero in the closest touch with the Taw material, and its various semi-manufac-tured products did not hesitate to express the opinion when values had again begun to ascend, and bad reached a fairly hig'i point, that it -.was exceedingly im« probable that, they would bo still further. fliD nctual facts of the case, lrtwevcr, viewed in a retrospective light, are that from a slate of depression and slump, values for both wool and wool products have, in consequence of the unexpected large amount of business which has doveloped, been forced to a record level. The advances have been consistently brought into operation throughout the whole trade, wool, tops, and yarns now all selling at a general advance ranging from Is. to 2s. per lb. Transposition of Australasian Wool Exports, No better Idea of the great changca which have been wrought in the .grid's wool textile conditions can be lormedthan by giving a description of4he way in which the raw material has been carried into consumptive channels by new media. Before tho war commenced, Germany was recognised as a very lage purchaser of wool in the colonies, whilo, America was chiefly content to buy in London and Bradford. Italy was littlo known as a buyer anywbero, except in colonial markets, where, during. the course of a year, a moilerato quantity was purchased. Takiig the world's wool buyers as a whole, it may be said that th« trade of Great Britain purchased largely in London, being .assisted to a considerable degree by America and France, while 'other Continental countries represented by Germany drew a very largo proportion, of their supplies from the markets in Australia. Below ive give a most interesting table, which shows better than any description of words, how the consumption oi wool by the Brilish trade has increased, also that of America, whilo the Continental takings have decreased considerably. The most important comparison is that between 1311 and 1915, the year 1913 being
also given for further comparative pura poses. The details are as follow:— c- 1915. 1914. 1913. 0 Consumption, Bales. Bales. Bales. it Home 1,923,000 908,000 1,013,000 r- Continental 212,000 1,089,000 1,070,000 id American... 551,(100 liiO.OflO 51,000 Total ...'2,080,000 2,820,000 2,707,000 il Graat Demand for Tops, 5 has been the most conspicuous in. fiuence of nil upon prices. For n time tlie home trado had not enougli confidence in the market to enter extensively into n "M?" less transactions, but when the large military orders began to be placed, conhdencc was renewed, and the increasing demand for tops made by outside markets has placed a very heavy burden upon ike productive capacity of machinery in tiiis fiT'fe *00l and tops are tJio liist commodity to be injiueuccd in an upward direction when large demands f lor manufactured materials are bein" ninde, and wiitli so inuch machinery bieiii" ; w-ough... to a standstill on tho Continent = that in use in Great Britain was called upon more and moro to supply the de- _ nciency, and tlio progress of the German a ™£ tliroui'li Belgium towards Paris, which brought in its train so much devas--1 m i ll - ; , L !»s. tho direct cause for tho. high prices and tremendous afeiunt of inquiry winch, for twelve months past ' i\?- made among the topmakers or ' this country from Franco and Belgium, • and neutral Continental countries. Germany, being entirely out of tho running ' wspe . ct ' h ? s , becn no detriment : whatever, and no doubt that country has wen compelled to rely more and more upon tho tremendous reserves of wool which were bought before hostilities actu. ally commcncMl. That attempts liavt f been made with moro or less success to _ supplement those' reserves is nd 'doubt tine, but from tho point of view of thfl British wool ieitilo trade, tile absence • from the competitive i rea ■ V-"® 0 tho commenced, has made no , uijteronce whatever. Below we givo a , bio showing how prices for combed wool have advanced. It will be seen that values to-day are generally about lOd. to 12d K T * hey were a year ns<> lifot July, just before war was declared:— i
Effect of Y/ar on Crossbred Trade. So many military orders having been placed, and crossbred wool being largely needed for the completion if same, .it would be out of place nut to give a paragraph specially dealing with this questibn. In tho early slaves ol' tho war the possibilities of enemy countries trying to secure crossbred' supples from anv likely source were recognised by the "British Government, and as tho opinion was freely expressed in tho trade thai all the •crossbred wool avnilablo would ),o needed for khaki purposes, and as there was also a veiy strong desire to prevent tho enemy countries from helping them-ielveo to anything we might want, an embargo was placed upon crossbred wool and tops. For somo time this remained in force, and a.very interesting state of affairs was thus indirectly brought about. Tho demand for tops ran largely on merinos and fine crossbreds, the result being that these made record prices, and there were occasions when a temporary rush on the market for prompt delivery orcated something of tho nature of a scramble. It was being found that in practical cfl'ect merinos were scarcer than crossbTcds, awl all manufacturing requirements seemed to lean in that direction. The result was that crossbred tops did not advance in proportion to botanies, and though no doubt tho placing of some military orders for olothing our own soldiers, contributed to keeping crossbred machinery running, there had to be considerable adaptation in order to keej up with tile demands which wore being made for botanies and tine crossbreds, Tho most significant fact at the present moment is that not only have large Home . military requirements had to be supplied, but that France, Belgium, and Russia have all kept comirigHo this country for tho same purpose. The incursions of Germany into Belgium, France, ojid Poland have all placed Great Britain in the position of having to supply the military needs of the invaded territory, and-par-ticularly in the case of Italy and Russia, America has been ahlo to participate in this. There is no doubt whatever that the good done by British manufacturers in this war ranks high in the services' which this country has been able to perform in assisting the Allies.. The table of ■top prices given above will show the effect of the great crossbred demand upon that description, but still more vivid light can be thrown upon the subject. The month of September, 1014, was . the ono in which prices were most depressed, and it is worth tsaying that at that time when values were at their lowest point, lees business was done than has been put tlirough since with prices anywhere from lid. to 13d. more. The soundness of the consumptive demand is shown in tho fact that though less business has been done during the last few weeks, prices paid for tops have advanced'. The following short table give.? the average prices of tops in the Bradford market on September 17, 1914, comparing them with to-day's rates:
i Ju ly 30 J uly 30 Dec 22 _ . 1914. 1915. 1915. Description. d. d. d Colouial topa-r-64js, average 3U-32 42 43 1 60 s, ordinary .. '291 41 42} oO ( S 3 discoloured 273 ' .JO 40 60 s Buenos Ayrcs, tops 29} 49 13 61 s Cape tops, long ... 31J-31} 411-42 43 .. Colonial tops— - 58's, colrieback 28 37 40 58's, average 27i 30 3S 1 56'a, super 25 341 36* 56 3, average 24} 34 35 50 s, super 21 -21! 311 334 50 s, averse 20 -20} 301-31' 321 48 s, carded; 18 28 29!- . 46's, carded 103 07 jjg' 1 44's, carded 15J-16 25} 26 40 s, carded 151 2i 25 l 46'$, prepared 18 -18} 27} 29" 44 s, pick hog NU-1G3 261 9 7i 40's, prepared 155-16 241-25 26 86 fl, prepared 153 231-24 25J
Sop. 17, Dec. 30, 19li. 1915. Description. . <1. <1. G4's colonial tops, average 27-2S 43i GO's colonial tops, ordinary 25 42.V 58|a colonial tops, average 21,V 38} 5G's colonial tops, averacre 2-3 35 50's colonial tops, average 101 32\ •18's colonial tops, avcraso Yil 29i 46's colonial tops, t averago 16} 28 •Ws colonial tops, average 15J-1R 2C> 40'ts colonial tops, prepared' 15} 26
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Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2693, 12 February 1916, Page 15
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1,632OURYORKSHIRE LETTER Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2693, 12 February 1916, Page 15
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