LONDON WOOL SALES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2789, 6 June 1916, Page 8

LONDON WOOL SALES

t "AN ENCOURAGING START ;■ V (From Our Special Correspondent.) , London, April 13. k .. -.The present is an important time to :rtjders,of this'issue,-every series of Lon- ( don sales opening-a new- chapter to colof ffial wool grower?. One can never tlisnsi t - sopiate ihdmself from a big distributing market like Coleman Street, and especi-. 5;/ ally ai a time like, the present whencoloiVv' n'ial markets have to a largo extent stopj ped, we see focussed in London the buyh ing power of the wliole world with tlio I ' exception. of Japan. Conditions to-dny [ arc certainly abnormal,, and unfortunates ; if 'to are denied the support of Anions'can buyers, all due to the inability of ? thieir representatives to obtain licenses to • ship. That is the .positioirto-day. At the I fame time there- are large' home users < ttlio are still disposed to buy, although j ouiside support would'be ,at the moment of" direct benefit in-forcing, their hand und giving the sales that "bito" which one would like .to see. The auctions are going oil satisfactorily, there is a good Show of lifo and activity, but all tlie BanVo, one would be better pleased with more exhibition of keenness.: suoh. as was j'."'.; t Witnessed ! . last '.January. Topmakers say ; ' that results are now coming round out of i. , wool, .that was bought during the first f■ month of the year, and the prices then f- realised'. are...sliowing.;a' distinct loss in i .•■■■the';'combed, article. There, are-good 04's f; tops"that are costing 3s. lOd. to 45., and I,with"pi'ices being in tho neighbourhoW f ■ ' of;-3sr; (id. to-day, many firms are unablo f - .to "get back their own. That does not f-' - • gire"them a great deal of concern, alr:; '"though naturally they would have pre- ' . ferred'to have bought and sold at a proj, " firms who'did not sell at the f.-t time'at 3s. 9d. now seeing -that they made f ; a mistake. I::, : ■ ■.The Wools' Available, t; . . is nothing " particularly interest-. ' . ; ing,vi,ii,.regard to the arrivals, the wools ; : available at the current series being exi' ' actly-jvhat. one always, sees at. this time • ■ of'.thfe'.year. The trade seems to'hiive got through the bulk of tho merino arrivals irom',,.the last Australian clip, arid now t the.lJiew . Zealand crossbreds are coming j " in , extjnsively.. , Still:, the-. 56,000 i bales,, which are available from the Do-' • minion.,are" below.' the -'normal quantity, . .liut,it.is very evident that this year less j- . Now,.. Zealand, crossbreds are. going to be sold',than, last year, -the -United States' purchases making a big'/difference., .Still s >; witlu.the big khaki business that is ,prol ' ceeding there wiJlbe rib difficulty, in - lift 1 ; ' ing,. the crossbreds available, only if Amej, rica'-c-were permitted to. buy, a strong and 1 excited, market would' bs seen. Thero ; , has ..been in London during recent weeks j. the,president of .the Textile Alliance, but | it is .known that little impression , has i been'.made upon the. War Office and tho f AVar Trade Department, and lie returned [:' . Vlast-Saturday little . better for having j; . made-the trip. The merinos, aro going to l bo .very 'limited, although some nice wools [' are-available. South Australia is on tho |, shorUside, in fact, every Australian State f; > is making a'poor show. The following , are-details of the arrivals and the wools !"./. for.sale:' ?••'.-'■■■ . ' ■■ • Tl. avail- -,- •. Xew Forward- : ' able r ■;.'■ ... Arrivals, ings. Old . for I ; .. Gross, direct, stock, sule. f.'V 'isil''. Bales-Bales Bales Bales !'•"<■'• Sydney 32,100 22,000 2,400 12,500 Mn Queensland ... .10,900 » 6,500, i,GOO 0,000 f Port Phillip '.. 24,900 21,Ofltl' 200 4,100 [■ ; -Adelaide 10,200 9,000- 400 1,600 fc'. Swan Eiver ... 2,400 — 1,700 4,100 -Tasmania - .... 400 — — -400 New.Zealand -84,800 32,000 3,300 56,100 Cape,-.........,.,.,. ,37,300 - 31,500 , 400 6,200 203,000 122,000 10,000 91,000 . .About/4000 bales Puntas Arenas and f.;;- 2500 hales Falklands-will be offered this series,. ;■ , . ...... The Incentive to Buy. i "Buyers turned upjn good numbei-s last, i; :. Tuesday, the majority evidently being s disposed to operate freely. It is not j.' . that they- are ' really in want of wool, t but after tlie'fallilast series, the majority . feel that ,wool. : is ; even to-day worth biiy- , ing. : Many;,said; in Yorkshire\tliat "if <!tOssbreds had to fall 5 to 10 per cent, they would put all. they, had into the -. w.Ogl, feeling satisfied tliat their purchases would be right. ■ That' is a very commendable spirit to manifest, and general ■ confidence prevails.that after the current |. series'"are ovei',"or certainly . tho May sales,"'supplies.vw'ill:'be''very ; -liiiiited indeed'flidth'of merino's-and crossbreds. Of couiie when buyers are well supplied they :• largely trnst to the future, just the same . Rs.'a'.mau with. a., full.plate does iiot.im- ! mediately concern himself-'about succeedi. Still! beneath the surface ono j... discerns a growing "fqeling of anxiety reV:.». garding. prospective supplies.' 'Wools to- " daycare certainly reasonable compared ;. witfi; last January,-and notwithstanding ease both :in merinos and cross- (; treds during the interval, ppces to-day s ' foj,viops are such that they can bo sold 1 - at . a slight'profit to what they are ensth ing ..out of wool bought in March. It is when there is a -sudden drop, and tops

cost more than they can be sold at, that soon tells its tale upon topmakers, but so long as they can see a profit in the article, they are always prepared to buy and risk the future. There was nothing great on tho opening day, but tho spirit shown was certainly a commendable one, and unless we are greatly mistaken we shall see all the arrivals absorbed, and that very rapidly. This current series have been divided into two portions, and the way they have been drawn has not called forth a single complaint from anyone. Some think that the Importers' Committee would have been wisely advised to have begun the series on March 2, and sold the 100,000 bales, which are available, but ten days in London with a vacation of' ten days gives one' time to recover feelings'of good temper, and it is wonderful what a week at home does for many buyers. A Creditable Start. There were three sellers on the opening day, the combined offerings, totalling 7303 bales, a fair proportion of which were Puntas Arenas wools. Little,fault. can be found with the offerings of crossbreds,- but the-inerinos were below an average selection.- What fine wools were offered were from Western Australia, and full justice was done, to them. In fact, tho attention given to merinos exceeded general expectations, there at once being revealed a very strong inquiry; and one of the selßiig brokers said he would Tathor have tiie competition and prices of the opening night than those seen at any part of the March series. This certainly ' was a most favourable comment, and shows the present temper of buyers. Competition • was exceedingly keen, prices being par to -}d. above last .series' closing ..rates. Anything showing length was. in particular demand, and this feature is bound to be in evidence all through tho series. The show of crossbreds was very and competition was excellent. 1 n fact, the outstanding feature of. the opening night was the good all-round competition, there being distinctly more "fire" in the ►bids than in March. For good wools we could not see very .much change, but anything tending to be wnsty was certainly often, id. under • March ■ closing prices. Of course, Bradford .is the sole buyer' of . these- .wools, -. and; takini! «il things into consideration .the/demand was certainlyjvea'y good. In the sliped crossbreds there was no change, and the te?" scoureds also exhibited' general firmness. The'Puntas Arenas wools sold similarly to the New Zealand, and as far as one can see the demand for crossbreds is going to remain very good. AH the Cape wools offered show practically unchanged prices. The best combing.'greasy sold-very well. The opening night was favourably commented upon- by all, and 'succeecling sales have fully confirmed initial values. Everything points 'to a very satisfactory series. The Outlook. Writing with reference to the outlook, Messrs. H. Dawson and Co. saj':—"The result of the week's postponement in. order to discuss the question of terms between buyers , and sellers has been extremely satisfactory. The dispute has been amicably settled by mutual compromise, and until further notice the prompt will be extended to" twenty-one days and free storage for twenty-four . days. - Tho adjournment has also given a week's breathing time to the consumers, which has helped considerably towards a* recovery of tone and confidence. Several happenings during the past week have tended to give strength to a market .that was undoubtedly weak. The loss of the Ashburton and the Achilles has not been without influence.' There were 7000 bales fr'om New. Zealand on the former, arid 0000 bales,' chiefly from Melbourne, and consisting largely of crossbreds, were on tho latter, hi addition there havo been some furtiier orders placed for .Army requirements, especially with hosiery firms, which will have to bo covered in raw material. It is also well known that many of the orders for khaki cloths which are to be delivered in July and later months are still uncovered. -The most important event of the market has been the action of the War Oifice in tho new orders which have been j ust given for hosiery goods, in determining to assulne control of tho spinning industry, and that the prices of yams shall be regulated. Tho principal o.im seems to be that manufacturers, who are tiovcrnment. contractors shall be assured of their yarn supplies, and at reasonable "rates. It is well known -that the niargins betwixt the raw material and' yarns havo been somewhat excessive, and that manufacturers havo made complaints to .the-authorities bath as regards prices ami supplies. It seems difficult to see how the wool market-.can'be affected by this.action otherwise than favourably, because of tho enlarged demand. It is too late now with tho bulk of the year's supplies sold to do inuch in the way of controlling wool values; besides which, • despite its high values, wool is relatively the cheapest material in tho industry. Tho great fact which is conspicuously apparent in this movement is the emphatic acknowledgment of large Government requirements, and these will call for raw material, which is, unfortunately, not too plentiful. '•The supplies for the middle and later months of the year will be disappointing. The scarcity; of tonnage is becoming more

acutely felt, and in New Zealand tho sales have been indefinitely postponed because no further shipments can bo arranged until Juno from that colony. There is, of course, still some financial inconvenience caused by tho delays in getting deliveries of wool after they havo been paid for, and by tho curtailment of facilities in the discounting of trade bills, which accommodation is very essential to the wool trade at this season of the year. The assurance which lias been given to the buyers that the railway companies will give a moro prompt expedition to wools lor Yorkshire, will, however, help to alleviate the strain. All such helps will, of course, contribute towards easing the position by preventing tho prolonged lock-up of capital. In any cuse, this strain can only be of temporary duration, as it will be gradually mitigated bv the smaller supplies which will henceforward be arriving in London. The export of wools to America is still being permitted from tho Australian and South African markets, but it is not allowed from London. Taking into consideration the orders which are available in the home trade, and the certain paucity of supplies which will be felt in our London market, it seems impossible to take pessimistic views regarding values,"