THE WOOL MARKET.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 7, 9 January 1903, Page 2

THE WOOL MARKET.

Fa m the Bink of New Zealand we have received a copy of the product circu'ar issued by th«ir London office, and which only came to hand by the San Francisco mail on Thursday naorning. Referring to the wool market th* circular, aftir showing New Z aland has seat 27,000 out of a total of 68,000 <>al"s, ar.d that out of 93,000 availably 45,800 are from New Zealand, my* "Du-iug the iut-rval siooo th*despatch of last circular the market for crossbreds has been extremely active in Yorkshire. For soma months put large quan'ities of this oluiof wool "pm have been used up, and to rapid has th* p ce bean thai consumption hu for th* ' ime being almost overtaken th* sup- * pli-8. Topm >kers had sold large Unas of 40's tops (coarse wool) al 7id to 8d par lb, and s >me of them had booked orders ahead at thosa prices anticipating that they would be able to Mcura the wool to fulfil their contrast*, about the old pric, as time want on. The smallnets of stocks of oolonial crossbred* in London and the delay in the shipping of the Argentine (dip, owing to the strike among-the dock labourers at Buenos Ayrer, upset their calculations, and they had to realise the fact that the market was going against them. The result was that in a few weeks tke price ef 40'e tops to** 2d per lb in Bradford, end this wa* reft cted upon the value of tke raw artida when the sties opened in London. Ji large number of buyers, both Horn* and Continental, put in an appsaranoa on tha fist day, and competition for all kiuds of wool was very animated. Merino of good stjle started off with an advance of about 5 per cent., which soon improved to 10 percent. Fine and medium crossbreds improved to the extent of 15 to 20 per cent., and coarse crossbreds, which had to ria* from a much lower level, were 20 to 28 per cant, dearer. As the sale* pro* grtesed, tbe demand, if anything, be» cime stronger, and there is every probability oi its continuing aathfao* tory to the olosi of the auctions on 4th De?emb;r, and very little wool will then be left unsold. The question which is now being asked is: '.Will the present rise in tbe prioe of cressbreds last?' Tbe general opinion It that it will hold good until larger nip plies of New Zealand and Argentine wool come upon the market, but after that everything will depend upra tha s'-ate of the trade. There i', however, an impression that the days for buying coarse wool at 3|d to 4d per Hi, hav* 1 gone by, aad that a higher ring* of ' values m»y reasonably be exp»cS«d for 1 some time to c-m». The fashion in ' ladies' dresses his Wtely turned mor* 1 in favour of crossbred*, whioh ha* 1 helped tbe market." ' New Zealand merino weol is aIM ' very highly spoken of as being of 1 superior quality than the drought* ' stricken Australian woo', and i* | ptctcd to oemmand a higher prioe. Thtre is nothing new te report whioh 1 has not bsen anticipated by cables in coaneotien with dairy produce, grain) 1 mea*, and grars seed.