LONDON WOOL SALES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2800, 19 June 1916, Page 8

LONDON WOOL SALES

MERINOS AND CROSSBREDS HIGHER (Prom Our Special Correspondent.) London, May 5, 1916. The sales reopened last Tuesday before a very large attendance of buyers, and once more the various sections of tlio 'trade are engaged in acquiring- the raw 'material. It was a real good move to liuve a short vacation, the rest and change bringing buyers together again in even a better frame of mind than when they left Coleman Street a fortnight ago, and nil the better for the holiday. The opportunity was given to feel the pulse of consuming centres, and the measure of business done whetted the appetite of the majority, and made them, all the keener to buy. We think the importers'- Committee are at .last appreciating the fact that there is nothing like giving the trade a little breathing space, and what we wrote a good month ago in regard to supplies is already bearing fruit. Host of the largest firms have had a very good time during the past three weeks. The temper of Bradford is totally different to what it was a month ago,, all duo to fact that topmakers can see more "daylight," and the measure of the business done.has enabled them, to see-that the trade is - going to suffer nothing providing hands .are left in sufficient numbers to allow them to -wool through tho machines. Recruiting is still proceeding apace, . single wool-f-orters up to the age of thirty are now: joining tho colours, 'and unless a man is engaged upon a business which is indispensable to the carrying on of tlie war,; he is having to go. . The Question of Supplies. . Supplies are receiving very considerable attention. . After this week tho trade will go home faced with longfer intervals right up to.the end of the year. The sales in the colonies ; o£ -last season's wool .were on such a gigantic scale that Coleman. Street has ( now got baok to where it was before the outbreak of war; and if. there were sufficient docK labourers to stage. 12,000 bales, per day its of old,, no remaining series of the year need then last more than a fortnight. But that - cannot be. - , About 8000 bales is all chat can be successfully handled daily, and it appears to us that there is going to be decidedly less wool for sale than. was generally. expected .at the beginning :of the year. - Of courtc, when things are rising nobody is very: keen to put wool upon the market until they think the top is about reached, andas far as one can see there is every likelihood ,of still higher prices. The Interference of £he -Army Contracts De'partment was intended to curtail, if possible, the upward tendency of woo! values, but supply and demand are bouriil to be the deciding factors, and certainly both aspects of the wool trade are to-day strongly in evidence. We foresee that there is going to be a keen demand for . the. balance of the colonial flip, and' the experience .of- Coleman Street this', week.shows that merinos'are at:.the present moment commanding chief attention. Tops cannot advance 3d. per lb.' ,in .a good three, weeks , without materially affecting wool values,, and no' one is expecting any great supply of fine wool after, the, next series of sales. jS'o, ' doubt we shall see considerable offerings of. second-hand: parcels, but' it takes a good deal of these to fill a catalogue.

Merinos Again Dearer. - ' The offerings of, fine wool this week have not been an important factor.- On some days there, lias certainly been a nice.selection; Tasmania being represented last". Tuesday by the,-well-Known Tordon clip, the. combing imaking up to 21Jd.' arid the'pieces 17d. There is going to be very'little'Tasmanian wool ottered in London this season, tlie bulk .being sold at Hobart and Launceston last January, and some reasonable clips were also offered at Melbourne. Prices are again the turn in favour of the seller, unci values to-day are fully "10 to 15 per cent, above March for all average to ; good combing merinos. Of course everybody is diligently'.seeking length, and if' that is not obtainable .tlu-y have to.be content to. acquire second-rate parcels. Even the call for burry. merinos exceeds expectations, and, these , wools are now 7i to .10 per- cent, above last series; say' a good Id. to- lid. pei- lb. There is also a very satisfactory, call- for carbonising merinos, thanks, to those firms who have their own plant, and who "fire just as keen, to buy as ever. The fact that the War Office has placed in ■ the'lliands of shirting and flanneL.manufacturers very good new ordersfnneans that these 6hort, faulty wools..will- all be,wanted. Practically all the linns have orders on their books i which will take all this year to execute, and they can have more if they want. There seems to bo no limit to the purchasing power of the Government, in. regard to underweai' fabrics, and those mills which are 'capable oi turning out flannels are nearly all engaged on Government work. The burning down of two carbonising mills in Bradford has been a serious blow 'to-this branch of the trade.-.

Scoured merinos are also in very strong request, and. are selling at 2d. better rates than : last series. Russia would be buying more providing they could get shipping facilities, but we understand that Archangel is still closed and likely tok This is certainly a severe blow, the Government commandeering that port entirely. Two or three .firms have been placed in a dilemma because there are in London considerable weights of scoured merinos awaiting shipment, and the Government has practically told them that they must do the best they t can to get the wool .to.Russia, only thev cannot allow* Archangel to be blocked jvnen more important, military needs have to be considered. There is no slack, eniug in tho demand for scoureds, and again well over lis. lias been paid for really good linos of Queenslands. Scoured faulty merinos are fully M, dearer than earlier in the series. A Good Show of Crossbreds; iiie wools of New Zealand.are naturally bulking the ' largest in the catalogues, and iml justice. is. being done to thoin.. inces are id; dearer than they were be-' lore the vacation, thanks .to a fairly satisfactory demand iii . Bradford. The trade done seems to. have varied' a good doal,. sonie firms finding business' to be better, than others. The recent interference of tho War Office in regard to fixing the price tor yarns has lo a large extent subsided, due to a satisfactory arrangement having been come to, ami this has lifted a burden off the minds of many. The impression' strongly prevails that crossbreds will be, dearer before cheaper, and that wool is worth putting into stock.. No man can measure the extent of the military demands and the requirements of the future, that no doubt being the chief reason for crossbreds moving as they are doing. There has again been- a good show of crossbreds every day, and some rattling good prices have been forthcoming, it now looks as .if tho breakdown at the second series", ought never to have, occurred, that series no doubt providing the cheapest wool of the year. We must, now quote crossbreds 5 per oent, above, what they were before the holidays, and certainly this class of wool is worse to buy. So long as-top-makers can seo into the future, and have even the least, encouragement, they are prepared to operate freely, and no fault can bo found with the Way the catalogues have been cleared. .France is still taking up a few lots of medium and fine crossbreds, but their operations have not been oil so extensive a scale -as last series. Wo have; not' heard lately whether much [ progress is being made in Prance by way of installing new combing machinery, but we expect 110 time will be lost in this operation, i We call all descriptions of greasy crossbred fleece decidedly in sellers' favour, and buyers are in no sense filled. . The show -6f scoured crossbreds is very poor, and anything at all decent is selling at'more money. There continues to be a very nice show of sliped crossbreds, but, being new season's wools, the staple is on the short side, the lambs beiug more suitable for woollen khaki purposes than for combing. Some exceedingly good prices are being mado for greasy lambs, but we cannot see this class of staple much clearer, except that short aliped pelts are certainjy a good penny to ljil. up comMarch, these' wools all being taken Tor blanket purposes. The sale of crossbreds throughout is certainly excellent, and we anticipate a continuance of present prices.