PROSPECTS FOR WOOL

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20031, 1 September 1939, Page 11

PROSPECTS FOR WOOL

NEW AUSTRALIAN CLIP BRIGIfTER OUTLOOK PACED IMPROVEMENT LIKELY Australia faces brighter prospects for the sale of the new wool clip than was the case a year ago. She will produce more saleable, better grown wool, 'giving in most cases heavier weights per sheep, which will command competition from a wider range of buyers. Competition for a large proportion of the past season’s- clip was limited because of its faulty growth resulting from drought conditions over a wide area of country, Winehcombe Carson, Limited, reports. Mi Ilmen abroad are in much better heart to engage in the purchase of the raw material than 12 months previously. Activity at the mills in practically all countries, except Japan, has been greater during the past seven months than in the similar period of 1938.

The increased volume of manufacturing turnover has admittedly been largely caused ,by work on uniform materials. That business may not continue at the specially accelerated rate of recent (months, but increased military and naval forces once established must be maintained in equipment and clothing renewals, become necessary. The consumption of wool on that account is, therefore, likely to be larger in the future than during recent years. increased Employment The expenditure on rearmament generally has increased employment, and distributed more money among the people, thereby expanding public purchasing power. It must also increase taxation. Which, in turn, detracts from the improvement previously mentioned, but, despite that aspect, the tendency is to give the great bulk of the population more spending money. In June combing machinery was more active in Bradford than for some years. (Buyers of fabrics were also showing greater confidence, and were more freely entering into contracts for future supplies in place of the hand-to-mouth policy pursued for a long period. A shortage of stocks in the shops was reported in cases, and some delay was being experienced in securing supplies. Apparently caution in purchasing has been carried too far. (Recent experiences do not stimulate thevidea that wool is likely to become decidedly dearer in 'the immediate future, but they do not suggest a recession in values. The evidence rather points to firm .prices and possibly some improvement in rates for the new clip.