LONDON WOOL SALES

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 34, 4 November 1919, Page 10

LONDON WOOL SALES

c t HOME TRADE UNABLE TO ABSORB ALL WOOL SUPPLIES (From Our Special Correspondent.) London, August 14. Another series of London sales began last Monday, when there was the usual attendance ot' buyers. This wiries the . total offering will be about 11,000 bales of Australian and 29,000 bales of New Zealand wools. There are also to be two days when wool will be offered by description, when something like 15,000 hales will be put before buyers in this . wav. The catalogues apparently are not uoinx to ho much more than about 8000 bales per day, and all tilings considered it is wonderful that even this quantity can be staged day after day with only n week's recess between eacli series. Had anyone dared to say that the homo trade could absorb the weight of wool it has ilono in such a short space of time ho would have been considered to be out of his mind, and yet for all that the sn.les this week have clearly shown that ihe raw- material occupies a very sound position, and that there is every prospect of increased Continental competition which :s bound to leave pita mark' upon values. The opening sales have shown clearly- that merinos arc selling lirmly without showing much chang? on Inst sale's closing rates. Of course, the auctions are benefiting by tho activo competition of Franco, and as the rate of exchange has advanced further to 33.50 francs per pound sterling, this means higher prices to them compared with last sale's values. It is indeed a bad omen to sen exchange 80 much ngainst Britain, and what is going to bo done to remedy it deserves serious attention on tho nart of the Board of Trade or some, other Government Department. There is no country in the world' where tho exchango is not very high, which is all making against tho trade and commerce of this country. Tho normal exchange rate is certainly very desirable, but it looks to be a voiy long way off, and in tho meantime the present high rate is bound to be a 6erious handicap upon those wanting to extend business with Continental countries. Crossbreds Dearer. A faature of the auctions is that nil neutral countries are being allowed to bnv, also America and Japan. This has had the. effect of bringing in increased competition for cro'-sbrods, and leading to an advance of about 5 per cent, on fmo descriptions. Medium crossbreds have nlso advanced up to 5 per cent., while low wossbreds lemain unchanged. This is exactly what one expected. It is true the Quantities to bo allowed to be taken this series by neutral countries and America are not large, but they are BufTicicnt to lead to higher prices being forthcomi?ur for fine .iTOssbreds. I understand that tho requests to buy on American account hrvo been so numerous that all applications have been cut down very seriously, so much so that some are hardly worth mentioning. It would bo interesting to know on what principle the various applications have been dealt, with, becauso firms applying for 200 bales have been cut down to a ittltry twenty! The outstanding feature of tho series so far is the increased netivltv on Roubnix account, but it is evidence of more mills being got to work and increasing wool needs as weeks go Kv. The selection so far this week lias ho',>u most suited for Continental re•niirements. Fiance is apparently nvo.ll able to uso both merinos and crossbreds, and as London must conlinue to provide the largest supply Of wool for that country, one expects to see large weights absorbed right to the end of the year. Beltrium is not buying so largely as France, notwithstanding that the carbonising factories of YorvJors' are to-dnv all running, and able to deal with a big weight of wool. The Wool Situation. I have already alluded to the flooding of tho market 'with raw wool, and yet very little impression has been made upon values. There is now no scarcity of raw material in tho hands of homo trade usois; in fact, how to deal with tho wool and where to store it is a problem. During the past threo months this country has imported no Icm than ■laO.OW.OMll). of wool, which easily constitutes a record. I believe Sir Arthur Goldfinch stated at one of the "Wool Council meetings that by tho end of this year Great Britain will have imported no fewer than 1t.000.000 bales of colonial wool. Tho decision to export 85,000 bales out of tho present scries in London is clear evidence of the inability of tho home trade to lift all the wool,, or to bo more correct, that tho homo trade can let tho quantity go without being tho least inconvenienced. Tho following ligures indicate how completely tho raw material situation has changed. Thej show imports of colonial wodl sinco last 'August:lb. August, 1918 24,034,607 September. 1918 14,758,281 October, 1018 27,517,826 November, 11118 42,072,016 December, 1918 23,082,204 January, 191!) 08,315,212 February, 1919 48,993,554 March, 1919 42,G67;265 April, '919 88,893,449 May, 11)19 183,335,001 .Tune, 'DID 126,231,872 July, 1919 142,420,902 Will Cheaper Wool Mean Cheaper ' Clothes? I think the position is such as to warrant the statement being mado that the Department, are doing thejr very best to force valines to a lower level by offering such big weights of raw wool without giving the trade even a breathing space. That is tho sum and substance of the recent speeches of Sir Arthur Goldfinch, each public statement made by that gentleman emphasising that alarm is felt in Government circles at tho extraordinary prices whicii have been paid for all colonial wools. But . wilt lower wool values mean any easo in prices for tops, yarns, or pieces? That is n very serious question, there being to-day a consensus of opinion that if good combing wool could be hnd at a shilling per lb. it would mako very little ilili'orer.cj to tho partly and fully-manu-factured article. If that is so, wliy force values for wool to a lower Hovel, wh'ch only means putting moro profit into the pockets of those who frankly admit that they are doing exceedingly well with wool at current values.' If it meant lower prices for clothes everybody would at onco support wool values moving to a lower Sevol, but in faco of three weeks standing of combing machinery in Bradford, and mills everywhere following suit on account of the coal strike, tho outlook is very 'black when viewed from the stand-point of lower prices for weaving apparel. It i» a faot that orders for cloth on export account are miuply pouring into Bradford, and export merchants are baffled in finding manufacturers willing to do business with Germany on Germany's terms, and to take the responsibility of even doing business with Russia. The demand for o'.oth seems to he go extra-ordinary-that any price is hoing paid for it when forthcoming, a.nd it must ho recognised that business cannot he extended in faco of such limited production on the part of the combs and spindles of the West Hiding of Yorkshire. Hiijh Prices for English Wools. The south country fairs have, been re. sinned, an agreement having been arrived a.t between farmers' associations and English buyers regarding the draft question. A pale, took place at Salisbury, in Wiltshire, last. Friday, when washed Hampshire fleeces made 4s. ljd. At Andover, in Hampshire, Inst Monday, 30,000 fleece,' were pitched, comprising chiefly Hampshire Down wools. Every lot was disponed of at record values, the highest price for washed wool being ■k 2d. per lh„ and for fleeces whore sheep had only been 'lightly put through a stream, commonly called "dipped," up to 3s. SJcJ. was paid. Greasy Hampshire Awces realised from !i*._to 3s. Sjil., enough to mako anyone whistle Anything from 50's quality upwards Booms to occupy an exceedingly strong position, while deep wools aro utterly neglected. ( hear thai one Liucolnshiro buyer who forced the pace at every fair in that county and in Nott.iuglinni=h ; TO, hasficon in Bradford during the past week deliberately forcing oi, to Htrjrnidc Lincoln fleece wool at Id. per lb. lf.i* Ihnn h.> has paid in the country. This is one of those incidents which happen

everv your, and it is usually a case of Hie "miti. furl best away from the actual consumer thinking ho knows more of Ih.j likelv course of values than those k. the. spot, and fighting daily with the problems of the trade. Licences are being grasilod for America, with the result tint good business is being done in all fine English fleece wools.