AUSTRALIA’S WOOL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 17 May 1938, Page 3

AUSTRALIA’S WOOL

INFLUENCES OF THE WEATHER. Weather has been a bugbear to the Australian sheep industry this year, according to the latest report of Winchcombe, Carson, Limited, Sydney woolbrokers. Over a wide area of the Commonwealth, and particularly during the past few months in New South Wales and portions of Queensland, absence of rain has caused heavy expense to pastoralists in hand-feeding and agistment for stock. ‘Tn Great Britain, mild winter weather curbed sales of woollen goods,” the report states. ‘‘Turnover at the United Kingdom mills was satisfactory up to September, but absence of the usually cold October and November conditions gave a check to business. This period of the year is normally an excellent time for making sales, owing to the public demand for warm apparel. ‘‘The maintenance of Japanese buying has been a most favourable factor at recent Australian auctions. Generally, the trend of world commodity uprices has not been upward. Metal values have been on a low basis compared with some months ago, but wool has not varied in price to any marked degree during the past few months. Countries using artificial fibres to the greatest extent have increased their wool purchases owing to the reduced prices at which the raw material be obtained.

"The condition of the late-summer shorn wools of New South Wales, which have been recently offered in Sydney, supplies a guide to the growing clip. The sheep have produced considerably less wool per head than a year before.

‘‘Except in a few districts of the State, pastures, owing to lack of rain and the grasshopper invasion, have been more or less scanty for months. A smaller clip is certain to be shorn in New South Wales.

‘‘As the State produces 50 per cent of the wool grown in Australia, the position is likely to influence appreciably the coming season's supplies available in the Commonwealth, and this should assist in the maintenance of current values."