THE KNOLIBH WOOL MARKET.

Manawatu Herald, 22 February 1881, Page 3

THE KNOLIBH WOOL MARKET.

Prom the N. A L Company's circular fensd for the mail of 31 «t Dsearahcr. we • quote th« following anew of tbo E »gli«b wool sales for the year 1880 :— The history •f the Cvlonwl Wool Sale* for the year 1880 ataads oat in marked ooatraxt to that of its prede«f saor. Daring the first nine nratha of the earlier ywar there was a per siffteat decliae, while with the exception of about tea days at the commencement of sheseoond series of the later year, when prices were for a time unduly inflated, a fairly uniform level of. value* may be said toHtave been maintained. Tn« mult, viewed broadly, has been an average ad. vaaee of about 22 per osnt. in the value of the staple in 1880 as oomp&red with 1879 Coincident therewith the fourth series of the former closed en a parity . f value with the corresponding series of the latter. The foreign seotiea of the trade took advantage of the lower range of prices in 1879 and purebased with ezoeptioaal freedom, where as in 1680 home buyers operated more extensively and, inoJukive of ahipmeutt* which did not pass through the London sale roems, it is computed that export purchases for the year 1880 were diminished by about five per cent, those for domestic consumption inhibiting on the other hand » like increment. The expectations that American buyers might once more appear «a important factors in tlis market have not been realised, the impetus given at the commencement of the year to the woollen trade of the United States not having been sufficiently maintained to enable them to do so. T»« year now d awing to a close opened without any incubus of held-over stock, but will give to i-&t>nocesaer a legacy .«f 'swine 16,000 bales for future disposal While the aggregate «f the Catalogue*, 987.903 bales, for 1880 falls short of thu segregate, 1,026,441 fcata, for 1879, the supplies which have passtd into consumption during the two years exhibit no great **-" disparity, the quantities seat direct to various manufacturing oentres in 1879 barimrbeen estimated at W*> teles against 106.000 bale, in 1880. Viewed as a whole tfcc result of the sales jQOfridswt be regarded as satisfactory to importers. Th» wools of the new Australisa dip, tor which high ratta of freight ha steam ers bad been paid, ia order to aiujp* arrival, failad to attract special at. testion and elicit the prices cunent at the optslag series of the year. This was due iapart to the attitude of reserve assumed to wl'reßeh section., and in part to the

even seedy, with occasional si^ns of weakness ia the staple, and gave evidence of shortness in tho growth, in consequence, no doubt, of vory early shearing. The season of the year was not a time when, under ordinary circumstances, foreign buyers assemble iv l.tr^e numbers in the London sale room ; and while in past years new clip wools have throughout the fourth series, comtnaudod attention and been purchased with a view to testing their rendement, aa v<>ry small supply of such wuota |>rovi* sufficient for that purpose, tho quantity available during the late series waa in «x cess of tradft requirements, and, of tin residuum of 16 000 bales, a proportion con sisted of bought in parcels of the new clip. When trade throughout the mnnufactimnv districts ia not brittle, the incidence of the f urth series is uau.illy takeu advantage of hy dealers to dispose of those purchasewhich they have been unable to work off iutii consumption. Evidence of this d.sir. «»i markedly shewn iv the daily cata loguea, and the presence of so much -«t!cou<l hand wool no doubt had n ilett-n ent effect on current valuer. Apar! from the ae^oi of the year the apatln of Krench buyers waa doabtle-s dm to their continued inability to sell at remunerative pricoi wools bought during tin Hicimd series at v higher lcv^l of value*, ibe foreign section generally gave little if any support to the demand tor ooarx wools which, in consequence of unfavorable accounts from the Bradford district, failed to sustain even previous moderate rates. The turn of fashion being stiff against; thtmore extended consumption of such wools, notwithstanding the ascertained deficiency in the domestic clip of the present year in eonsequenoe of severe losses amongst sheep And lambs, the markets for British and Irish wools have not been strengthened, and the values current during the earlier months are now maintained.