WELLINGTON NEWS

Hokitika Guardian, 25 October 1929, Page 3

WELLINGTON NEWS

THE WOOL MARKET. (Special Correspondent ) WELLINGTON, October 22. Shearing has commenced in many districts and the clips are slowly coming into the stores at the selling centres. Perhaps more would have been done in this respect if the weather had been favourable. Wool now comes into the limelight and will for some time be a prominent matter, for a good deal depends on the amount realised by the country’s wool clip. The flocks have increased by approximately two millions as compared with a year ago, and this should mean several thousand bales additional to the wool ’output 'of the Dominion. It is thq question of values that will cause - considerable anxiety. The first sale of the season as usual will begin in Wellington, and this year th’q opening-sale, will be held on Thursday, November 14th.; If the 'weather isvaH all during the next, few days Hie opening catalogue should approach 10,000 bales.

Last year ; the offering was relatively, small and . comprised \about, 7,700 .bales of which 7621 were sold averaging, £23 2s lid per, hale or ,15,.839d, per lb. This was not tlie highest "price realised, last season, for the prices made during December last and January this year were higher, the realisation in January averaging £23 T9s 3Jd per bale or 16.13511 per lb. In February there was a sharp decline to £2l 8s lid per bale and in March there was ■ another decline to £2O 5s 6d equal to 13.530 d per lb. Since then “values haVe receded further in the world’s markets- although it must be said that merino wool has been badly hit. Still crossbred wool has eased anil it is. generally conceded tha+ the opening prices will be below the closing rates in March last. Just what the average fall will bp nobody can predict with any certainty; it may be a penny and it may be threepence, but what we have to recognise •is that even with the increased production thrown in the season’s clip will not bring in ns much money as that of the previous season, and therefore the woolgrowers will have less money to spend. It is probable that this season there will ..not-be.-the same .number- of buyers, that' ' benches last season: “■ Bradford firihs have closed’ down and their buying orders will be missed-. Generally Bradford . buying is likely to be on a limited scale, but the Continent will and the .- New Zealand wool sales wile defend a good deal on Continental 'competition, aided by Japan. America may be looked upon as out of the picture for the American clip is larger than in the previous season, and the United States will not need to import more than 150,000,0001 b of wool. , Vo- Tr'

Growers and brokers are apparently reconciled to the fact that prices :will be lower. Messrs Dalgety' and Co. in their wool circular state that the Dominion offerings for the past season easily constituted a -record? and although they were very heavy the buying power hfid no difficulty in lifting the extra weight. Growers who sold locally, in the majority of cases, realised better returns ‘ than those who shipped and sold in London. We may say that there is plenty of evidence to support this latter view. With respect to the outlook, the firm, while declaring its anxiety to avoid writing in a pessimistic vein, admits that it is useless to try .and. hide the fact that the outlook for the coming season is far 'from satisfactory, and it is abundantly evident that the price for all grades of the textile will, during the coming seagon suffer x severely in comparison with 1928-29 rates. Fashion, the firm remarks, is fickle, and as the finer wools look ridiculously cheap as compared with crossbreds it would not be surprising if a levelling up, took place in the near future, the former class of textiles appreciating in value, .with no move in the latter.

At the same time it is pointed out that there is a growing opinion that especially for the finer wools are now at their lowest point,, and purchasable at a price where manufacturers and tomnakers can operate more freely and with more confidence. There is a general agreement that stocks of the raw material are still fairly plentiful both in England and France, but under present mai’ket conditions buyers will be able to obtain fresh supplies at prices more favourable to the eventual demand for wool commodities than they have been for. ninny years. It is the opinion of a good many, and it has been voiced by the German textile trade,* that it is the consumption side that requires investigation. At present there is a big disparity between the values of the raw material and the finished product. While greasv_ wool is selling at just a shade above pre-war prices woollen goods are selling at practically the high wartime prices. It is this that is checking the free and ready ednsumptio'n of woollen goods.