LONDON WOOL SALES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2754, 25 April 1916, Page 8

LONDON WOOL SALES

f ■■ A REACTION SETS IN (From Our Special Correspondent ) ! - London, March 2, 1916. f; Tho trade-lias just entered upon th j; second series-of;London eales] ; -the ; cui I . ' Te«f,auctions beginning last=Tuesday v ;W t^L;.:^® l '^ t^pngly r finclmed•rtpi^viwv•■;the'^ser^o { ar tiwe- of test,■ there perioi I >.:>.ieach- year when' this remark, canbe ap [ : ; plied ,to the wool trade. ''-Ever since thi .opened; in-; Australia .last Octeber t.; ■' right up to thej.'present'-Jthere'' has; beei i nothing but *adyanoiiijf?'wluea - until- after a stiff'-climb we seem for thi j. .: moment' to have reaehed'a'summit when } »ll -voices arecalling; for .a-halt. -Thai ■' . the 1- spirit .'in -whi6h":buyeif |; . . assembled on the opening day, and whil< [ .soodl' work •HasViindpubtedly Been 'ddnf [. .thisjweek,; we r haye to face."the fact thai f : for-; the time .being' r ' reaped,; and-.-the ; sales ' are - being ■ conducted with a fair . manifestation -- oi strength, is.iiot .that" keenness 1 to ;bny which .leads -one to^exceed past ?..-/--'limits,. which' "was w\appareiit''''at-the t.JanjSiry":'.'"auctions/;-' The ,-elimination of !/ - tiie-'American factor in'. Coleman Street no I ■ ■-. .. doubt has robbed.rthe.i sales of, a .'certain [■'■■... ./ amount. of-etreiistlv-.whick-would have ; ' .bee'ifoi>alue to-day, biit. apparently the f-I (America -has 'had L:"--". enough, ;at least'.fbr th'e time being.'-' We t-' '. are .notsilisposcd s .with .the' .de- ' sairi'KS-e hayg.',to'. face/thefact -tliat,.'the . of "coon- {-•' the home tr«d^&';shance• to' kcquire, the raw, maj' teriaVwhich would not have "boon there if-America' had been an active buyer. I . Whil.e- it. is true that wool growers, in Australia- and South Africa cannot grum- .. ble. "dtjth'e present -standard of values; ..."v .vet tfeyery fact. of.no further headway •P ' Toeing: made may possibly v disappoint a few H :;J)iit when all is .'said and done with valufe being where they are, wools owned by jijpwers .'are- still selling on & .good paying ;basis. ■ ; .. 1 ! r. Wools Available. j It '.is. <iuite in order., to look briefly at r tbe;wppis. vjhich are availably for,- the ' curreilt,«ries, : and with; only ■ about .7500 I ■ ~ -means- tliatjthe .seines' ar^;-'going : to'the j, of the third week.- .This has gone' down' r , very;,badly with ' many buyers,. but spiling j: -'brokers blame the warehouse-keepers who k..-'.:asSertvtnat they;-.oannot-stige-/9(J00 bales' 'per day.'; 7otherwise.' theauctioss ;;woVild'; j- have,; finished at: the - end "of. the»6econd< : r week,,ivhich ivas' 1 proiiißW'in",. - 'I.'hat." things get worse so; far as labour is concerned is very apparent, and; it is f- perfect struggle to get done j what -is - actually forced to be done. . Ho'w--6 . e>ver;jit/is no . use grumbling at. a. time. | like .' the present. Every available, man; |'-.v that-.England can produce'lias to con-' {'?>; siderghimself a.; fighting unit,';„and' the j: ■ trade-of the country is for once haying | to takc..a.'"back seat.Se faras the woola to hand for sale are concerned, the disr attainting feature, -tlia : f.. 33,000; ])ales of crossbreds/to hand from r- . Noiv '.Zealand. This is-.below an average■ [./- > for a,', : second .series- of London'fates;- but [. , one must;be thankful :for. small, mercies. Yictpria; is'^^j'' : poorlK;represented;.;the I/ , worsbfor -aWeaet twenty-five yeaiß.'/there [ »ot j is -£i.:: fair :.'selectibn';';.from '' Ndw' ' South'" -• Wales,viQueensUnd r .-and,.£-WfstvAustralia, . thewools that Bradford topmakers I; ; Prefer.-..Still, the offeringß on. paper loofc* w - oolb. so- far sho.wn are -on the whole decent.:, South Australia is also represented by just over SOOQ bales, and thetclips to'.hand are certamly attractive, well , find sound v Tasmania is. practicallyv.off theruiap and clips Lav© been sold • .either in.Tasmania or Jlelbourno. Below a detailed'list ; of-the, wools which ar£ available for the current series:—. tiv 'v.. -NeiyForwari.^% Avail-

' nrri- ings. ' Old able for vnls.. direct.-stock, sale. Balesr Bales'. 'Bales. Bales. Sydpey : «,350 25,500-:','1,500 20,350 Queensland 14,450 m 3,400 1,000 12,050' Port Phillip . 25,550 23,000 - 200 2,750 Adelaide •. ...v. ; -15,500 ..- 13,000 200 ) -3,706 Swan River".::" i5,l£0:""''100"' 15,150 Nejjj Zealand 38,350 6,500 1,400 33,250 Cape ......, 26,15p 21,500, >■.- cso., 5,250 'iB6VSM M,® '" 5j()00 92,500 AT3out'2soo'b'ales Punta'Arenas and 900 bales; ( Falklands : will, be offered thiiseries., ' ......... : The'Tem'oer of Buyers. Judging' from. the expressed - views ofBuyers, It' is' apparent that winfidehie' was disturbed' by "Melbourne cables last "week, find- the > ease t-inywossbrals ;af the'' Auckland sale last J?fida.v did-Bradford'buyers; no good. No doubtrthey-'are-all'seeking a lower.buying..basis; .in. other words .there is going l 'to'be >no'iess-call for tops; but everybody feels that- -if -the}- could buy wool ; cheaper it', will " help 'somewhat to increase margins and possibly lead to more profitable' business. On the openingj day"tKero"'vras 'riot', Hy'any''meaiis I '"a' decisive spirit, tho majority .feejing. a, little 'doubtful,''"'aiid no doubt' many 'firms valued on a slightly lower basis compared with last , series. Still',-the spirit of buy-

•<: era.. . was.- good;. not oa» /being in .the .- ;"blues.": a. matter of fact all seemed to -rejoice-iu . a good, profitable trade, which they had cjone, and while a lower ';• buying:i basis; • would Ibo acceptable, still • : the best feature of all was that they were ■prepared to operate, and if a competitor was prepared to ray more, they gladly let' Kim have the wool. 3 A Set-back in Values. . ~ . The.opening.day saw three decent catalogues put a well-filled room. So j : far as the' trade' being' fully represented 1: no fault could!■ Jt»e" found, but'tlie series " opened rather gingerly, there, not being 1 that "fire" 'about, the bids which one has ' been "accustomed - to. see during recent L - months. There was too much hanging . back .and reserve to say that the ' opening was satisfactory and we .should | have been better pleased if there had ''.had.been a stronger determination on the 1 part of, buyers to operate. As a matter 1 of, fact, valuing had been carefully, done, 1 but one gathered from' buyers .what their real .disposition :was. Most had lowered ■ ': their' limits by-5 per cent., and it was very evident before the sale had been' going very'long that -wools were selling on -a- lower-basis of values. ' ■ " I The .show.<of. merinos' was. creditable, but decent parcels showed a fall of Id. per IK "comparedwith'.'-the close of 'the first series, while faulty parcels ir.ust be something like' l}d. and sometimes 2d.'below"the -extreine point of that series. No dpubt /confidence was to some. extentV sha'keh7 ~ and buyers were trying, to negotiate purchases on the basis of Melbourne cables. . . particularly well in evidence, and these fared very similarly, to merinos. The.decline, was a good penny, and often ljd. Of course, one must not ■forget the very extreme prices paid in January,, the wools that were then, easily saleable at Is. lOd. now fell to about a Is. BJd. level. The decline seemed' to most strongly in evidence in'fine and medium crossbreds, coarse -parcels depreciating Jd. to Id. There were no scoured crossbreds whatever catalogued. The few parcels of slipes mostly lost ground' a pood .penny. Talcing the opening results, they wero generally what, were expected, and wo shall, not be.,tenrprised'if .the few opening, days-prpved ; to be. the cheapest of the entire.'.series.,.';No 'dbubt,, with'ra better selection, we/ shall'see keener competition; and what - the' market wants, to-day .is;.,a.-little,.' American competition to straighten - out.' the,., somewhat . crooked . places.;:.';Suc"ceeding sales -have 'gone someSHat. better;'but'the' ground lost has hot -yet been .recovered.. ~ . The (Outlook. .-; r Wri ttng :witH' reference to the'oiittpos, 1 Mews. H. Daw son . and' Co. say"Some •! hesitation and a quieter tone have pervaded the during the past fort- ' ..night. ' These , were probably due more to", a sahiral "pause for..: taking breath than to any changed conditions; -or to any,; lack, of confidence, but " the same ■hesitancy has ; been strongly reflected in ; the opening of the' series to-day. So 1 tar. as crossbreds are concerned, the scarcity of supplies iu the Home market has tended to check business, \rtfrii 1 would;have,been plentifully available if < offers-could-"have beon made. The posi- I tion has been rendered difficult- by the uu- 1 certainty, of getting Home the'purchases 6 ,mado m the. overseas. markets owing to 1 the-scarcity .of,tonnage,.and.further support: would hs^e been'given to;'the, colonial 'sales, .especially in New ,Zfwland,C. early' : deliveries could ha been ' assured. 'Meanwhile the Australian and New Zealand seasons

practically come to a close, and "tlie. demand will, therefore, be focussed almost. entirely on the London market. 'It is',, well-known that further orders for army cloths on account of some of'the Allies , have shortly ! to be placed, and "many, manufacturers are not yet covered on tho orders which/have' been recently token,.:-..';. :. Consequently, - despite;,- today's, .^weakness.: and_ the embargo on., exports, jcrossbreds occupy- a very strong position. t: "The position, in merinos .is much : more complex, because of' the combing difficulties arid- the uncertainty- of. export Conditions.-' ; The question of embargo is an. all-vital one to the market, and in all -.fairness a clear announcement is desirable of the policy, intended by -the War' ■Office. - .licenses ' for merinos purchased 2n London-',at. the;-last have been ■refused, although no notice of an embargo Ti'asi yet tieeri,'.given, and ivhat"is obvious-

'.lymore unfair, despite the fact that unrestricted'exports: are. still -being per--■nutted from, the colonial markots. Prob. ably tJie time is ripe 'for this restriction, but it should be announced , and should apply to, all markets alike. ' Whatever the effect of. the stoppage of.exports may ,be on raw wool values, its influence ou the,.values; of tops is not likely to'ba material until the output be increased, the prospects of which become more remote [under.- present; labour conditions. Meanwhile it was hardly to be expected that the inflated values of the last sale cpuld be mistained, especially v'thout anv neutral support. • * . "The mo?t potent adverse influence which the market has to fear is that of financial stringency, although, happily, J this has not yet jieen seriously felt.in the wool '.'Lrude. -11l South .. America wools' are being ' dealt»:i'n' rather more : freely. The German houses are offering some of their stocks,, either, because they are less

optimist."?, or because they are willing lo take the present murgin of profit and unload a portion of their holdings." Since Messrs. H. Dawson and Co. wrote the above report, cable information has coino to hand from Sydney to the effect that the exportation of crossbreds will not -be allowed except to the United Kingdom.