COMMERCIAL

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 220, 4 June 1915, Page 3

COMMERCIAL

BRADFORD WOOL TRADE. , TJiroughout the Bradford market? j production continues to b c a more im- j • portant consideration than price. As"-! , a matter of fact, there is very little j t new business passing. A month or J two back practically all users placed I contracts for tops and yams to cover j their needs for four, five or six months ahead. Now it is more a Question of obtaining' delivery on those contracts than placing new orders. All topmakers are in arrears with deliveries, and except for odd lots will not take on any more obligations for delivery before July or August, nd in some eases September. In these circumstances prices naturally remain firm, quite regardless of the position of raw material. There 5s now plenty of wool in this country. The Board of Trade returns for the first three months of the year indicate that 361,078,00011) of wool had been impelled $3 compared with 293,000,0001 b for the first quarter of 1914 and 360,000,0001 b for the first three months of IDI3. The amount of wool retained in this country "up to the end of last month was 125,000,0001 b |as compared with. 53,000,0001 b for the I first three lnontjhs of last year and 76,000,0001 b for the! corresponding period of 1913. This year's imports have been drawn from the various i sources of supply as follows: Australia, 170,467,1691 b; New Zealand, 76.56G,5001b; South America, 51,515,4801 b; South Africa, 40,515,7511 b. There is a good deal more w r ool than the trade has been able to absorb, because of inadequate machinery and labour. At one end of the scale there is an abundant supply of raw' material and at the other end a vary healthy demand for all wool products, but in j between there is a "bottleneck" ere- , ated by the inadequate facilities for I combing. Wool cannot go through to ,! the later stages of consumption faster than it can be combed, and there seems to be no hope of expediting this branch of the trade, because it is mainly a quest icon of labour. The Army has drawn upon thg working classes to such an extent that the number of men left is strictly limited, and fully 10 per cent, of the existing machinery cannot be run. in the circumstances it is therefore possible for wool to go cheaper, and yet tops and yarns maintain their position or get dearer. There appears to be no early prospect of the demand for yarns and tops falling below the capacity of the available machinery for some months ahead. Indeed, spinners are refusing business almost every day, and topmakers are certainty not seeking orders. There is a. distinct difference between the position of merinos and the position of crossbreds. In normal times % cbmpartively small proportion of 'ho metiiio clip is absorbed in this country, the Continent being a much greater user. Consequently, there is not sufficient machinery here to ab-sorb-the wool which in normal times goes into the Continental trade. This applies particularly to the shorter sorts. There is an enormous consumption, and the amount of wool used is made greater by the preference for thick counts, but it seems not unlikely that merino wool will accumulate to a considerable extent in London as the year advances. But, as already pointed out, the extent to which this could affect tops and yarns is limited. j It is different with regard to crossj breds. In normal times the bulk of ; the crossbred wool is absorbed- |iu j Yorkshire, and having regard to the j extraordinary call for uniforms for the j Allied armies, it seems quite reason- j J able to assume that all the wool will I j be used before the next clip can ! rive. The khaki boom has passed, be-. j cause the trade has caught up to the : requirements of the British Govern- j ment, but there is a tremendous out- ) put for France and Russia. France, dur- j ; ing the first three months of this year j j has take a nearly 9,000,0001 b of piece } goods, and the bulk of this is for .uni- ' ! forms'. It will be seen, therefore, that { j crossbreds arc in rather a sounder j ! position than merinos. Th e average prices ruling on the] market days named were as follows: j

• Apr. Apr. Apr. A pr. 1 8 12 15 . Merino13 — d (1 d d 1 70-s .:; 33 33 00 33 GO'S, super . . . 3232 i 32 1 3 2 ?; (50's, ordinary. . 31 31 31 31 Crossbred s — 58's ......... 30A 30i 30i 31 56's 29:; 2tt:,* 293 30 50's 2S!i 283 285 £ 8 : 46's 27 27 27 27 iO's 26 94.1. 25i ,24 \ 2ob 25i 24J oC'S 00 •) -* 23 23 32's £.■*> w Lincoln — Hoggets ..... IS 18 18 18 Wethers 18 18 IS . 18 Kent Wethers. ■19 29 20 20