Commercial.

Hawke's Bay Times, Issue 1640, 25 December 1874, Page 474

Commercial.

The London Wool Market. Messrs Edenborough, Donat, and Co. report, under date 28lh October, as follows:—Since the close o£ the hist scii-s there lias been a very limited demand for wool, which, hovvever, is not much to be wondered at when the quantities disposed of in the last two series is taken into account. The. arrivals for next series up to date are 78,730 bales, and according to last advices there were about 16,000 afloat which might arrive in time for sale, irrespective of what may come in by the next Cape steamers, so that about 85,000 bales may be taken as the quantity likely to be here. At Antwerp there has been a steady trade doing, at full rales, partly owing to the anticipation of shipments of the new clip from the River Plate being delayed by Hie civil war there, and should this be the case it may also assist the November sales here.

Wessrs Windeler and Bowcs report, in their Circular of 30th October;—Very little of interest lias taken place in this market since the close of the last auction on Ist instant. The demand for wool has been slight, and with a small stock here to work upon, transactions have been quite limited. Consumers ou all sides are busy, and have plenty of orders in hand, but, holding fair supplies of wool, they are not disposed to buy freely at the present value of the raw article. Country staplers are consequently doing but a quiet trade; colonial descriptions they hold at firm rates, knowing that supplies cannot be brought forward in quantity till February next, but for some classes of English wools and foreign skin a fractional reduction on the prices current last month has to be accepted to effect sales. In the following figures, showing the movements of Australian, Cape, and River Plate wools, in Europe during the first nine mouths of the years named, wc have allowed for an estimated increased receipt from Australasia of 1)0,000 bales, whilo wo assumo a decrease of receipts from the

Cape and, Eiver Plate of 35,000, which will probably be near the mark. The imports this year have been unprecedented!)' large, and the deliveries, notwithstanding high prices, have much exceeded those during same period of 1871, when prices were recovering, from their low position. The available supply for the remainder of this year ia very small as compared with last year, but allowance must be made for the altered dates of the auctions here, owing to which buyers now hold larger stocks than they did then. MOVEMENTS OP AUSTRALIAN, RIVER PLATE, AND CAPE OP GOOD HOPE WOOL. 1874. 1873. Bales. Bales. Stock held by importers Ist Jan 45,784 53,268 Import, Jan. Ist to Sept. 30th 957,395 834,898 1,003,179 888.166 Deliveries, Jan. Ist to Sept. 30th 928,080 770,583 Stock, 30th Septcmbr ... 75,099 117,583 Arrivals, Oct. Ist to Dec. 31st 106,654 174,151 Available from Ist Oct. to 31st Dec 181.753 291,734 The arrivals for the next auctions, to open here on 17th November, amount now to G 8,730 bales, and by that date the total may reach 90,000 bales ; Capes will form about half this quantity, and the selection of Australian will offer so small a proportion of combing wools that these will probably be firmly supported at late rates, while the anticipated delay in shipments from Buenos Ayres, owing to the revolution there, may possibly bring here increased continental demand for Capes and other clothing wools. The hope of some relief to the continued dull and depressed trade in America has again been disappointed, and now manufacturers are resorting largely to short time so as to prevent further accumulation of goods. At Antwerp the next auctions at River Plate wools are fixed for the 4th November, and no further sales to hold before the 2nd February, 1875. Stock now about 20,000 bales; there has been a steady trade doing, and, with a good consumptive demand, prices have been very firm at last rates. The Havre stock of Eiver Plate reaches only 4,600 bales, mostly held for auction next month, so that transactions there have been unimportant. The following is a statement of the value of New Zealand wool in London in October, 1874 : d. d. Scoured fleece, superior ... 28 @ 22 „ average ... 25 „ 26 ~ inferior ... 21 „ 22 Washed fleece, superior ... 26 ~ 28 „ average ... 23 „ 24 „ inferior ... 20 „ 21 Unwashed fleece, superior... 15.\ „ 17-* „ average... 13$ „ 15 „ inferior... 11 „ 12