LONDON WOOL SALES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2722, 17 March 1916, Page 8

LONDON WOOL SALES

STILL NO TOP TO WOOL * ~VALUES ;• " ■ ■■ I ' (From Oar Special Correspondent.) London,: January 20, 1910. ' It is always .'a time of.lmportance to both wool-growers and buyers whon any series of London sales begin, and a new i chapter, opened "last .Tuesday. It .'goes without saying that there was the usual ; large attendance of buyers present, -who oil. seemed desirous ,»f acquiring', stock. : Evun-the high prices which are ruling I' to-day 'are not'acting as -a' deterrent to ■ operations; in fact, the ol<l■ principle.'.is' w>mg repeated of men buying with even ; greater freedom in a boom market than when things aro , slack and prices low. ;. Human nature js yery much alike the ■ world over, "and, so long as confidence is ■ felt in the future of values, users ofthe raw;, material are always prepared to operate. As a matter'of fact, .it is re- , niarkable what coniiderico.'- is <<xprcssed in ; the future of-values. There is this soriep a very good.show of merino wools, Janu- : arj- providing as good: a selo'ction . .03 at any time of the year. There should ' - be eomo of:: the. verv cream of the Wost Victorian'marks offered, and big prices . are certain to be seen. Really speaking 1 , i .wh toove a full .representation.:'6f' the . wools grown in every, State of the Comi j i'nop.wealth, with 'the exception of South ! .Australia and Tasmania,' but these big, v clips cannot/be sold .both on the. spot ■ and .in Coleman Street. No one oan find s faint with growers realising this at, the nearest selling centre, for j" the . values ruling are such that to pass 'them by is' siniply courting disaster. All 5 jrool-groiyors throughout the world,will " have just reason to remember the-war times of 1915-16; and even when the war ' terminates.the, writer,,fail6, to see a'-jy-: , fhmg but skr values continuing. ■ The ; market is wonderfully sound, and the | first -round pf tlw' auotions shows the high standing of the raw material, judging by tan, prices realised.. -The Wools Available. There is nothing really outstanding in <, connection with the wools which aro ; available'for sale. The arrivals aro 1 .watched weekly with as much .interest as ever, and the fact 'of there'being' a'nice offoring seems to satisfy everyone, a'lj/though Bradford. topinakors would; have, relished 80,000 bale's .', of New'- -Zealand ! crossbreds, instead of a paltry 17,000 bales.Of course, it is hardly their; turn ' . yet,'and no doubt larger quantities' will' l bo sold, in: the Dominion than last sea-t-run. WJicn prices are big there is,every ; , encouragement -for' those wools'.to' be-sold ; oil the spot, and very- few indeed, except ; soiling 'brokers, will feel any regret -if j thoy ;have to spend less time in Coleman Street New South-Wales and Queensland,, as .well as. : West .Aus-. j -tiaiia, are well in, evidence, but South V Australia: is -very sparsely - represented, : and New Zealand might have-been more to the" front. However, it is goingito "Be a time for merinos, and no doubt full- . justice will be done. On the opening day a very uncertain feeling obtained regards", ing the operations lof and : whether or> not. licenses are. going.. to lie , ;granted. " Below" we 'give', ra- list of ",tho wools available:— . -

m .a- \.•g.-. - -m </ : : 3 ,„!ll ' 25' ■ ah-TJ, O; c-io-3 : - Bales; "Bailes. . Bales. ■ Bales. ■ Sydney ~.. 45,800...-12.800•,,,■2,000 35,000 ; Queensland 24,750 " 2,500 v ""'2,000 -24,250 ' P. Phillip-14,300 8,500 900 6,700 Adelaide ..." 9,500 6,060' - "'2,900 : Swan Biver. 21,050 •; • 200 - 21,850 i Tasmania... .50 — • 50 N.Z ....V13,300 100 4,500 17,700 i'' Cape; t ....... 41,-450 - 33,500 400 8,250 170,700 64,000 10,000 116,700 About 200 'bales ;Purita; Arenas, . bales Falkland ' Islands, 'and 250' bales ■ ■ Elver IMate wijj be offered this series. - A - Satisfactory Interval. . ... . The vrriter: has 'before staJtedethat no- > thing guarantees a successful series ot London sales like a good interval; and the

past vacation, although interfered, with by holidays, lias been a. good one. Tho best,feature of all haa been t'lic placing •of considerable now business, and also the renewal of jgood buying. Of coursc, tho •war' has created big wants daily, and to satisfy, these, those supplying the Government must come into the market constantly and'tako biff weights of raw material. ' The interval has been very active, and considerable business has been done. This, can be said'of'practically all qualities, including merinos and crossbmls. It would "be difficult to single out a particu.lar .niiaiity and say.tliat a larger.business Ifas been\done in-'it, the activity" extending right.down.to 406, although probably tho biggest-weight has been turned ovei in j'6'fl.-a'nd upwards. Still tho new Gov ernment 'ol'dors which ]iave been placed ■including some' new buying on Russiai account; .are entirelyresponsible for tin aotivity. seen -in the textile world. A\'< give below a useful table showing wher prices. stand for leading descriptions o colonial tops at the close of the last auc tions, and quotations last Tuesday:— i • ~ December Januar / . _ 23,1915, IS, 1911 TJcoui ipuuu. ■ ■ u. O. ry s colonial tops, average 44 44J 5-I's colonial .tops, average 43 431-44 iO's colonial tops; super... 43.. 43i >S's colonial tops, average 4fl , 40J41 iG's colonial tops, average 35 37 K)*s colonial tops, a.vernge 32$ 33 ICS's colonial tops, carded 28 29 Ws colonial tops, pick hog 27J 28 Ws colonial 'tops, prepared 26-2GI . . 27 Ifi's colonial tops, prepared 25 26-

. A Good Beginning. Last Tuesday the auctions coininenced in yeal good earnest when two tellers put before a well-filled Exchange 60iuo very tfood wools. Of course, the bulk comprised morinos, and among them were some very good wools, both from Sydney <md Queensland. Everybody seemed to work with a will, valuing was carefully done, and a very active sale ensued. It was very noticeable that several spinners vtere round the warehouses valuing, the best of all signs that excellent prices are going to be forthcoming. The writer has nvery reason ■ for . saying that if new firms could get combing done.there .would be a further large accessions of buying strength in Coleman 'Street, but commission combers seem to havo inade a compact, for they will not comb for any firm for whom they ■have not done work before. However, the offerings were - such as' to call fortli all ■ the • buying spirit of the trade, and the Initial sale was a real good one. . ; Comparing'^ricc-s with those current at the close ; of last series, a general advance of 5 to 7J per cent, must be recorded for all • good to super combing ivools in the grease, scoureds appreciating often about 5 cent.r: Ordinary, wools hardly showed the. advance in 'either grease or scoured, still the improvement was a' good -}d. on all desirable parcels. Greasy crossbreds were hardly represented, although tlie few wasty old clip wools showed the same improvement,- and sliped crossbreds apperciated. fully 5 per cent.. Cape wools also appreciated 1(1. for grease and -2d. for scoured. All these advances revealed a remarkably strong market, merino "wools appreciating more than was generally .expected. It only serves to show the excel'lent standing- of the raw material, and everything seems, to indicate a ■ continuance of prices itliich can only be regarded as exceedingly good when viewed from the growers standpoint. Succeeding sales have, fully confirmed the general advance; Tha Outlook. ' Writing with reference to the outlook, Messrs. H. Dawson and. Co., say:—"The new year, brings no relief ;to the wool trade, either in tho way of easier', values' or by alleviation 'of the, abnormal diffi- 1 culties under which the industry is being' earned- on.- The continued advances in freights (which are now double those of ! - recent normal years) havo become a serious matter, but the shortage of tonnago ft the colonial ports-.is even more serious. 'It seonis as if our supplies cannot fail to be very materially restricted during the coming months, and especially if;-Hie large:-purohase3 which have been made on. account of neutral coutrijj; are also to be carried. New Zealand sales, have beeiw postponed for a 'fortnight, because of : the.hick of shipping. "The embargo question is also sorely puzzling the trade. In. England no ex.ports of -crossbred wool are permitted .to .neutral .countries. The same restriction has .now ten made operative in New Zealand, but in Tasmania and Australia crossbreds'are still -being purchased,'and no announcement of the embargo has vet. been made. .

•"'ln tlie .-Homo centres tlie problems are many, and equally serious. . The .con. festion at the. merino combs, the i'nereas- < "Tiq- difficulties of transport, .'especially on the railways, the' scarcity of dye wares hud of acid for. carbonising the ' raw material, together with the exorbitantly increased charges for aill mill requisites, nil combine' to affect the market conditions. Desnite .those things the c#nsumption' and demand continues in amazing volume, and "yet nobody can trust the -market. Sellers hesitate, to noil for," waTd for fear of further npwa.rd movement, and buyers are equally ne'rvous of carrying surplus stocks, because, there is .room for serious shrinkage fit these high prices. Consequently, Romebusi-'

ness generally appears to be confined to legitimate requirements. It should bo borne in mind, however; that many contracts for cloths and yarns carry long dates ahead, and that there may be considerable stocks of raw material in hand to cover these requirements. The main fact, however, of an enormous consumption stilt holds good. The greatly increased use of wool by the woollen mills Is fully maintained. Tho recent orders for Government cloths and shirtings call for big supplies, while it seems assured that our Allies will need the continued help of our. manufacturers during the j'ear.

"Although there aro no signs of speculation in Home circles it looks as if sonic of the neutral countries were anticipating their requirements very coil-, siderably. The enormous purchases of the United States in South Africa, New Zea'andj and Australia, as well as tho Italian purchases in Australia and South America, are factors that have not only influenced values in those centres, but may' have effeots ?n our market <luring tho whole of, tlip year, especially if {as may bo expected) the best wools in an inferior clip have' been taken. The "position of crossbred consumers is-rendered, extremely difficult at the moment.- There' is no weakening of. (he demand, but supplies are very scarce at the present series, and the shipments from South America are almost negligible. Coirsequenfcly, business is being done with great caution, and at. steadily hardening rates."

The dairying season in Taranaki has been a record one (says an exchange), but considerable difficulty lias been experienced in getting shipments _ away. For instance, in South Taranaki, orer 20,000 crates of cheese have been delayed, but a shipment of 10,000 crates, valued at fully £50,000, .will be made this week, leaving still 10,000 crates in store. ..The estimated total value of shipments of dairy 1 produce from Taranaki for the past -week, was about £56,00u, '