THE WOOL TRADE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1648, 25 March 1884, Page 2

THE WOOL TRADE.

The atroual reports by the London wool brokers on the wool trade for 1883, published in the Home commercial papers, containing nnich infori raation which is of interest to New . Zealand and other'colonies where this : atticle is a sample export. Among ■ other statistics there is a set of tables. : giving the imports of colonial and 4 foreign wools into the United tfingdonr » 1 since 1831, which shows in how re- , markable a niauuev tho production in : Australasia has increased, and what i an important factor the wool imported , from these .colonies forms in the general trade, In 1831 the importation of wool from Australasia was 11,596 bales—- , about equally divided between Tasmania and New' South Wales. The imports from the Cape of Good Hope in the same year only amounted to 263 bales j while the foreign importations were 85,512-66,782 of these from Germany. Foreign countries kept the lead until 1850, when Australasia scut 138,670 bales against 132,603, In that year the exports from the several colonies were-Now South Wales (including what is now Queensland), 51,463 bales; Victoria, 55,378; South' Australia, 11,821; Tasmania, 17,468; Western Australia, 1,046; New Zealand, 1,502. In 1867 the Australasian colonies utterly distanced the foreign imports, and havo kept far ahead ever since. The imports in 1867 were 412,641 bales j ten years later they' were 823,783 bales, and fifteen years later in 1882, they were 999,731 bales. In the corresponding periods the ..'foreign Exports to tho United Kingdom were 160,115, 357,277, 1 ,314,684,[and 362,527 bales respectively. In 1882 the exportation of the several ' colonies was-New South Wales, i 280,284 bales; Queensland, 54,093; Victoria, 364,041 ; South Australia, ,122,167; Tasmania, 23,429 ; Western ! Australia, 122,167; Tasmania, 23,229 ; , Western Australia, 11,615; New 1 Zealand, 194,102 bales. The aggregate • quantity received from Australasia in 1883 was, for some reason or other, which does not seem easily to be accounted for, about 9000 bales less. The exportation from the Cape increased from 128,418 bales in 1867 to ,191,113 bales in 1882, and 187,368 bales in 1883. Prom Australasia alone the imports of wool into the United Kingdom were 680,000 bales in 1883 more than foreign countries. Taking the statistics of value, the enormous development of the woolproducing industry will be more forcibly realised. In 1860 the average value of wool per bale was £25 15s, aid tho total value of all the wool imported irorn Australasia and tho Cape into Europe and America was £6,850,000. In 1870, when the value. had dropped down to £1615s per bale the total value of the imports had grown to £11,691,000. In 1880, when wool was worth £2O 5s per Dale, the total value of the imports was no less than £22,032,000. Iu 1883, when the value per bale had again materially receded, -the total value reached £20,988,000. As to the values of different classes of woo) in 1883, tho well-known firm Helmuth Schwartze and Co. remark that merino combing wools are " 7 per cent., clothing and faulty 12 to 15 'percent., and.cross-breds(except tho finest) 18 to 20- per' cent, below the average." In speaking of the clip, the same firm report: "In consequence of a bad season, the clip was poorer tlwn it has been for many years. The staple in most flocks was loose and tender, and, though the wools were not heavy in the grease (except in Adelaide), the yield on the working up, was, as a rule, unsatisfactory. Only the New Zealand wools were sound and lighter than in tho previous year." In reference to the trade of 1883, the wool-brokers state that it followed an "even course,"; and although it may be said to rest on i.-w, a sound and broad basis, yet it is clear- C fitly stretched to the full. "Industrial .profits being reduced to a minimum by the ever-growing competition, the ton- . dency has been to seek compensation in the production of quantities." They ' note an increasing appreciation of the finer description of WOOI3 to the rejectioh of the coarser kinds. One firm remark in their report that for the last twenty years the production of coarse wools has remained almost stationary, whilethat ofmerino hasalmost doubled; and "now that the Bradford manufacturers have gone in for woollen goods, no return of the coarse classes by their former eminence and value can be looked for." Their seems to be a general concensus of opinion amonc; the agents that there is no appearance of anything occurring to disturb tho main tenance of the average results of last year. An increase of 5 per cent, in the supplies from Australia, and some augmentation of the imports from South America, are anticipated; but

tlio year opened,, the brokers report, 1 with lighter stocks than iyag t]ie case in 1882, It will bo noted that New Zealand stands , third amongst tlio Australasian colonies in tlio quantity of wool exported, being.only exceeded by .Victoria and New South Wales! Moro especially satisfactory is it to find that our wool keeps up a high character in tlio market, being reported as the only wools which wero "sound and lighter than in any previous year,"—Evening Star.