THE WOOL MARKET.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 August 1920, Page 5

THE WOOL MARKET.

ARGENTINA HOLDS GREATER PART OF TWO CLIPS. Referring to Argentina's articles of export, a leading New York papef says:— . "Wool has become literally a drug in the market, and with the exception of the fine wools, whibk are but little grown in the Republic, demand has vanished, iand priced may be anything you please to term them, For the coarse crossbred wool which was specially associated with the Plate flock 9, the markbts were Belgium, Northern France, and Germany before the war. From 1014 to 1918 Boston' made a considerable quantity and some, but not much, went to Bradford. GOVERNMENT RELIEF. "To-day the sales to the States hive ceased, Great Britain is liquidating her surplus stocks in the Antwerp market, and the long and short of it is that Argentina holds the greater part of two clips, with a thfid clip not far off. Estimates as to the quantity of wool in the country at the present moment vary, but it i 3 as high as 120,000 tons. While the coarse crosßbreds are nominally 10 dollars (Argentine paper) the 10 kilos for best quality clean burr-free fleeces, it is impossible to sell. "The recent restriction of credit by the United States banks, acting, so it is understood, in accordance with the indications of the Federal Reserve Board, has in some measure been responsible for the restricted buying by American houses, not only in wool but llso in hides. Here, though the stocks are not so large, the slump has been' sharp, and. the news that American tanneries have sufficient stock to carry them on for some months without further imports has killed what little business was under consideration. When it is borne in mind thait, to take but one concrete example, out of 953,000 salted hides shipped in 1920, 773,000 went to the United States, the reason for pessimism is evident. ' "Equally evident is the fact that Argentina must now set her house in order, and prepare to quote on what one may loosely describe as more normal terms. The balance of trade in her favor hase been largely due to the exceptional value of the articles she has had to sell, expressed in terms of currency; and it stands to reason that with the whole world striving after more economical finance restriction of purchases from this Republic to the irreducible minimum was bound to come."