WOOL REVIEW

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 17 November 1927, Page 5

WOOL REVIEW

1 CANADIAN OPINIONS ENCOURAGING

FOREIGN MARKETS STRONG.

JAPAN A KEEN BUYER

In view of the opening wool sale for the 1927-28 season, to be held at Napier to-morrow, it may be of interest to quote the opinion expressed by a Canadian paper recently to hand regarding the prospects for this season’s world clip. In their review of the present manufacturing conditions and sources of supply of the raw material, they say:— “Wherever wool is being sold at the moment, prices are not only very strong but also are tending rather against the buyer, and apparently there is no good reason to expect any immediate decline in prices. Yorkshire topmakers and spinners are in a better position than they ere, and the position of the Continental manufacturers seems to be as sound as ever, while the situation among American millls is evidently bettei than for some time. Japanese manufacturers also appear to be hungry for wool. The foreign wool markets are very strong. Good clearances are being made daily in the sales in Australia. The selection has been a good one from the Continental point of view, and Continental buvers have been the chief support of the sales thus far. with Japan a very keen buyer. PRICES IN AUSTRALIA FIRM. sales both in Melbourne and UWev have a poor selection to offer, but prices are very firmly maintained The Continent and Japan continue to be the dominating factors, with English buyers operating moderately, while America is buying sparin'There was a good selection at the Adelaide sale, when the entire offering of 30,000 bales was sold in the two days’ sale. The Continent was the chief buyer in this market. At the sale in Alburv the selection was chiefly Continental styled merinos, and there everything was cleared in a single day. Prices in the latter market were well maintained, and in the Adelaide market were par to b per cent, dearer than at the previous sale. The South African market keeps very firm, prices being on a parity With values in Australia. GOOD URUGUAYAN CLIP. “Late advices from the River Plate indicate some improvement in the clip in those countries, more especially in Uruguay where some recent rams are understood to have helped the clip. A cable received from Monte Video states that the dip of Uruguay and Concordia is about equal to that of last season, and gene rally is in good condition. “Advices from the New Zealand markets indicate a fairly good clip there, with some increase over the clip of a year ago. MEDIUM WOOLS LEAD. “In Canada, the demand is especially strong on medium wools, both in the worsted and woollen descriptions, and prices are very strong for these wools. Fine wools are against the / buyer, but medium wools are definitely higher.’’

DEPRESSED BRADFORD

WANTS TO CUT WAGES. CANNOT COMPETE WITH 1 CONTINENT. An important move by employers in the woollen and worsted industry to bring down the cost of production lies behind the notice recently given to terminate the existing wages agreement, states a London exchange. The employers are prepared to state their reasons to the workers for the impending wage reduction, and it is expected that a joint meeting will take place without delay. The present wage situation dates from 1925, when the Court of Investigation, which had been set up xo mediate the dispute then existing, decided that more experience was necessary before it could be determined whether the depression in the industry was a temporary or permanent affair. The statistics which are now available for a general review of ths industry have been secured by the Ministry of Labour from 954 ’ firms, employing nearly 169.000 workpeople, or more than three-fifths of the industry, and may be taken as conclusive. The employers will now contend that the industry shows no signs of revival and that the percentage of idle machinery, the amount of shorttime working as well as of nnem ployment, and the prices obainable. are all indications that the cost of production is too high for the stat* of the world market. At the end of ’■August the percentage of unemployed in the industry was 9.2. The situation at the London wool sales, and at the Australian sales, is adduced by the employers as proof that they cannot now successfully compete in the export market. Prices of raw wool are above what Bradford thinks it can afford to pay. and in consequence buying has been from hand to mouth and almost entirely for domestic needs. The cost of converting wool on the Continent is definitely lower than in Britain under existing conditions and the employers believe that the situation can be met only bv a reduction in wages. Cho workers, on the other hand, are understood to hold that economies can be effected by a reorganisation of the work inside the prills.