WOOL MARKET FIRM

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 824, 19 November 1929, Page 10

WOOL MARKET FIRM

NAPIER SALE SUPERFINE NOT WANTED r -_s Association XAPIEI;. Monday. The owning wool sale of tho season at Napier was hold today. when 9.5U.1 bales were submitted to a record bench of buyers. Pr ctically all wer< sold under tli< hammer, and tin prices r< lin advance of those ruling at Wellington last week. I' is stated, however, that t pruvement is due principally t..> the better quality and make-up of the Hawke's Bay wool compared with that ‘ i Wellington, and does not indicate a - I rise in the market. Nevertheless. ces and bellies did show an appre- ! viable advance on the Wellington | prices, apart from the effect of the ( better quality. There was an almost complete lack of demand for fine wools, competition being limited to a few buyers, whose i prices were a long way down on those ■• of last season. One Southdown clip , ! brought 23d last season, but only 12id 1 j was offered for it today. ■ j Hawke's Bay wool is mainly of the J I coarse types, for which the demand was good. "Wool suitable i-ir Bradt ! lord does not come forward in iy r re ■ ! quantities at this time ot' the year, i and in consequence buyers or. beliaif : ol that centre were not active. Oom- :■ i petition anions the others was keen, and probably more general chan at Wellington. Australia, the dentinrnt I , and Russia were the principal buyers j of crossbred wool, the French buvers j in particular operating freely. I he official range of prices- was as | follows:—■ Southdown, average, J 1 Id to 13d. I Extra fine Crossbred. 4S-50's: Super, Si ,sd to 14 ’d: average, 12d to 12yd. In- : ferior, nil. ‘ Pine Crossbred, 46-48's: Super, 13?,d ‘ ; to 15d ; average, 12d to 13id. Inferior - ; 9Jd to J ltd. Medium Crossbred. 44-40's: Super, > i 13 i d to 14&d: average, ll?d to 13d. Inferior, lOd to Hid. ) Coarse Crossbred, 40-44's: Super, : 12Jd to 14d; average, lo.’-d to 12d lu- , ferior. nil. i Low Crossbred, 3U-40V: Super, nil- ;; average. JOJd to Hid. Inferior, nil Hoggets: 47-30's. 12d to 13d: 4C-4S's, • j lid to 143 d: 44-40’s, lid to lS.’-d. s j Necks: 10? dto 13d. Pieces: Good to super. lOd to 113 d.: s low to medium, 7d to Old. : Bellies: Good to super. Sd to lOd: low : to medium, up to 73d. Crutchings: Medium to good. Sd to ; 9Jd; inferior and seedy, 33d to 7?d. j Locks: 3d to 91d. AN AUSTRALIAN VIEWPOINT An interesting review of the wool - position is given by Whiteome, Carj son, Ltd., Sydney, in a. report published at the date o*f the latest mails. Though no person concerned is overoptimistic in regard to wool values, the excellent bidding experienced at. recent sales certainly denotes that consumers abroad have faith in the present basis of prices, states the review. And there is no actual sound, economic reason why they should not be reasonably confident. If fabrics j cannot be profitably manufactured j from the sheep’s staple at presenti day prices and find ready users, the I assumption can only be made that the ; world does not want the same quantity ! °f woollen materials as in the past. It is certain, however, that, if the ; cost of wool fabrics to the nubile was ■ as close to pre-war level as the price :of the raw material, most millmen 1 m ould be running their machinery full : time. I The great problem demanding solu- ; tion is to find why woollen goods arc dear. Manufacturers* profits have i been cut to the bone of recent times, l and wool has cheapened, but the I Prices of clothing have not declined appreciably. The individual, who could fmd the definite reason why woollen apparel is still too costly, and discover means of producing -t, decided reduction, would deserve the perpetual gratitude of growers. Wat problem is not confined to wool At the Homebtish Market, gvdnev ; in November, 1913, good to ‘prime ! s s°™ wethers were realising l°s to j a Recently they have made I i-s to lis, but- the breakfast chop | costs luxury prices compared with pre-war times. SOUTH AFRICAN POSITION South Africa, like Australia, is much disturbed regarding wool returns. A flrm of soiling brokers in I’ort Elizabeth informs us that this set- : son's prices mean a drop of £ 3,000,000 i l .° •£'6,000,000 in the monetary results i lor clip. Tho decline will no doubt eventually curb extension in wool- ; growing in that quarter as it will hc*'e ; Possibly the effects will be greater in that direction than in the Common- | wealth. The industry has had mo'-'e ■ Government aid than in this country, • and reduced revenue is likely to comoei 1 curtailment of that help. Tho price problem in the beef indusI f r - v solved itself. Low values resulted j in decreased production, and, to some extent, increased consumption. Demand in time outpaced supplies, and prices became more remunerative. The same natural laws will gradually exert their influence with wool. It is rather remarkable that efforts to stabilise wool prices by reducing market supplies have raised some adverse criticism abroad. Such criticism appears rather short-sighted, and displays a lack of full understanding of the position of sheepowners throughout the world. No person, concerned exj pected the action to produce extreme figures for wool. But it undoubtedly helped in preventing its value falling to an absurdly low basis, with adverse consequent effect on the value of the . stocks of raw material and tops held [ abroad. Maybe, had heavy offerings in Australia continued, some buyers would have secured bargains, on which they would have made handsome pro- ? fits. But we feel sure that those nianu- , i facturers, equipped with balanced reasoning powers, must recognise that extremely low prices would be disastrous • for growers and, subsequently, for | manufactures because of the rapid drop ) in raw material supplies which would ! recult. What most sheepmen and most i millmen should desire is reasonable prices which will encourage continuity ; of supplies and permit growing and 1 manufacturing to be profitably con- ; j ducted.