ANXIETY IN YORKSHIRE

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 17, 21 January 1924, Page 7

ANXIETY IN YORKSHIRE

ADVANCES ON SCOTS TWEED

TALK OF A SHEER GAMBLE.

(UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION. COPIKKHT.)

(AUSTRALIAN-NEW ZEALAND CABLE ALSOCIATIOX.)

(Received 21st January, 9 a.m.)

LONDON, 19th January.

Recent advances in prices at the wool sales, held here, in Australia, and in New Zealand, have caused considerable perturbation among users, according to a writer in a Yorkshire newspaper. It is pointed out that those who hesitated to cover future requirements of tops and yarns, when prices were much lower than they are to-day, cannot view the outlook with equanimity. Their cost of production will be much greater uian that of their competitors, who Dought speculatively in a more favourable market, and they have now to choose between a belated attempt to redeem the position or run the risk of a further rise. Up to now, the "wait and see ' policy has been rather costly for buyers. Many experienced men in the trade frankly admit that they lost their bearings, so to speak, and have made up their minds to proceed very cautiously and avoid, wherever possible, purely speculative transactions. For instance, one Bradford topmaker remarked: "We have decided to sell no more tops unless we have already secured the necessary wool. Selling forward, in either tops or yarns, without covering, is now more than an ordinary business risk. It is a sheer gamble, and does not appeal to the average business man."