"MIGHT HAVE BEEN WORSE"

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 56, 29 November 1937, Page 9

"MIGHT HAVE BEEN WORSE"

i— Press Association.)

Growers' Reaction to Auckland Wool Sale DECLINE WAS EXPECTED

(By Telegrapt

' AUCKLAND, Last Night. The lower prices for wool at the first Auckland sale on Saturday caused no surprise. Growers, orokers, buyers and mere spectators hiad all expected a decreaso, and. nobody was optimistie enough. to believe that, with the fall ia tho London prices there would be anything biit a snarp decline at the first New Zpaland, sale of the now soason. Those intimately conneeted with Ihe trade, particularly growers, recalling wistfully the amazing valueB that ruleclat the November sale last year, were unwilling to offer any forccasts before the sale commenced. The intense interest taken in the results of the .day's selling was obvious, and the gallery was crowded long before the buyers had taken their places. There was a particularly full bench of buyers. 'The excitement that had been unashamedly displayed the year before was missing. lnstead, there was an air of tension and a growing anxiety for a start to be made so that the fortunes of those offering wool would be decided. Distinct signs of nervousness were apparent among farmers in the gallery, and also among the majority of those on the selling floor. Only the buyera seemed unaffected. The first lot comprised four bales of crossbred ewe- wool, and the bidding rose to 9$d. The lot was sold, as was the next, but these were followed by a long succession of passes, broken by only au occasional sale. The . standard for the day had been fixed. The reaction in the gallery was prompt. liather surprisingly, relief was more obvious than distress. Growers aecepted the turn of events philosophically, realising that, while there was a sharp drop compared with the average of 14.225d paid last November, the price was still likely to be above that for the 1935-36 season, when the average was 8.27d per lb. Eeserves had in some cases been set high, growers apparently counting on a continuation of the lucrative values of last season. This did not apply in the majority of instauces^ however, but, even with moderate reserves, lot after lot was passed, buyers refusing to raise their bids often to within 3d or 4d of growers' estimates of values. The laek of Japanese competition, indeed of any serious competition at all, was soon apparent. Continental representatives dominated the bidding, and with Japan and the United States uninterested and Bradford offering prices well below expectations they had mattera very much their own way. Erench and Belgian buyers were to the fore throughout, and it was due solely to their activity^ even though it was within strict limits, that the quanfity sold under the hammer was not a great deal smaller. "It might have been worse, a great deal worse, ' ' one broker said. ' ' Wool prices soared last year, and few believed that they would remain at that level. Now they are down again, but in some quarters at least they had been expected to fall further. Thanks to Continental activity, the position is better than it^ might easily have been."