LONDON WOOL SALES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2362, 1 June 1899, Page 7

LONDON WOOL SALES.

(Feoii Oub Special CoBRESPOJroKifr. ) ' BRADFORD, March 30. A SOUND AND ENCOURAGING FINISH. This has been a remarkable series of sales, end I feel I cannot do better than give in my closing letter the authoritative report. of one of the best-known selling brokers. Messrs Buxton, Ronald, and Co., in their circular to me, state that all descriptions of Australasians attracted a large and increasing share of attention. Competition, which at the . opening was somewhat quiet and chiefly dependent upon the home trade, gathered considerable additional strength during the next few days, when with a bettor assortment prices advanced from 5 to 7£ per cent, on closing January rates. This advance was not only fully confirmed during the succeeding •week, but stood all round from 5 to 10 per cent, higher than late rates, the improvement as often happens at times of great firmness, being most conspicuous in the comparatively inferior lots. On this basis the market pursued its course tc the end. Fineness of quality was much sought after, and 'accounted in many instances for prices which otherwise would have appeared extreme. Greasy Western Victorians varied in growth' and condition, and realised from ll£d to 15£ d for fair to superior clips, and lOd to 10^d for tender earthy wool ; the demand was very general up to Is per lb, beyond which figure special requirements as to quality ,came into play. .In. regard to the great bulk of supplies - from other colonies, the advance of 7£ per*' jent. was chiefly paid on the heavier lots ruling in January from 7|d to B&d_per_ib. All pieces, etc.. sold with great- animation, the scale of for which may perhaps be best represented when we slate that in many instances they sold within a fraction of the combing lets. Sooureds commander! a large share of attention at par to id advance on the best wools, whilst inferior to middling lots ruled *|d to Id dearer. The demand for all pieces and locks was ardent in the extreme at tc Id per lb above last series' basis. South African woolr met a firm market, but hardly participated in the upward movement to the same extent as Australasian wools. Greasy good combing Kaffrarians at B£d to 9d were firm at January quotations, but below these figures the market was stitfer by id to id per lb. Fine short wook were dearer, and very earthy lots a good -id ■up. Natale of good staple brought B£d, but here again tho stronger tone of the market was chiefly evidenced by the larger proportion of the offerings, which reached 8d per lb. Very short earthy parcels ruled at 6£d 'to 63d per lb. Scoured superior Westerns at Is 7d to Is 8d were Id dearer, as were also middling dry Kaffrarians at Is 5d to Is 6d. Crossbred wool, o£ which about 56,500 bales 'were catalogued, met with a varied reception, the divergence between the finest and the coarsest grades being greater even than was the case last series. In both cases the weakness made itself particularly felt below a 46's quality. Two points are entitled to k especial mention. Firstly, the absence of American competition, which in January forced up 40's quality New Zealands about 2d per lb above the home" trade basis, was in itself sufficient reason for a marked fall ; -and, secondly, the weakness, which at the outset was especially severe on the medium qualities, became materially modified as the series progressed owing to the active intervention of Continental buyers, which helped both New Zealand and New South Wales parcels. Coarse, mixed, ' and dingy New Zealands, which opened about gd per lb lower, have latterly sold with more regularity. Scoured parcels sold much on the same lines as grease. In regard to sliped wools, whilst fine qualities were rather dearer and medium grades about the same as in January, coarse wool receded id to id per lb. It is generally conceded that the mamspring of the sf.rp.ngth shown for merino wool is derived from the apprehension on the part of consumers that supplies may run short before another season's clip can be available. To what extent this may be justified remains to be seen, but in face of the enormously decreased production in the Australian colonies during the past four years, there has seemed for many months past to be good ground from a seller's point of view for taking a bopeful view of the future. As regards crossfcreds, the relatively small proportion of fine and fair qualities is probably in a secure position,, but bo far the manufactured article baa not been produced which promises to afford any readier outlet for coarse grades. The next series will commence on May 2, >when about 180,000 bales will probably be available for disposal. Sold by Messrs Willans and Overbury, March *>0 WMECo. : Slipe — 8 bales first combing crossbred 9d, 22 do 7d, 30 do 7d, 27 do 6Jd, E6 do 6Jd, 16 do 62d, 16 second do 6£d, 20 do 61d, 3 do s|d, 11 S do 5Jd, 2 do sd, 20 scoured pieces 6d. This was a big lot of slipes, but only average stuff. The quality was only coarse, which made against them. Matapiro: Greasy -—f first crossbred withdrawn, 52 crossbred 6Jd, 51 do 6d, 35 do" withdrawn, 16 do 5Jd, 20 first do pieces sd, 13 do bellies 4Jd, 17 first Ho lambs 6Jd, 12 second do 6Jd, 8 third do fejd, 6 scoured crossbred crutchings Bid. Improve quality, and get a smarter and cleaner Btaple. This clip was too wasty, and such wool as this sells at a very low figure indeed. B in heart over Elms. Greasy— 2o combing lOd, 43 second do SJdT 20 clothing 9d, 7 pieces 9d, 7 B do 7ld, B do h&lfbrod 6d; ecoured— l combing 17d, 6 Ho 16ia, 1 piece* 14d, 1 S do 13id, 3 combiug fttaJibred 14Jd, 7 pieces do 12d, 3 B do 14d, 1 8 09 3d. These merinoa made a capital price,

and the stuff was right every way. They far outshone the crossbreds. N.Z. &A. Land Co. over Hakateiamea : Greasy — 42 combing 9d, 30 do BJd, 9 do 9d, 4 do Bd, 5 broken. BAd, 25 combing halfbred 9d, 8 do Bd, 11 combing crossbred 5Jd, 2 scoured pieces 16d, 2 do combing halfbred l*d, 11 pieces do 13? d, 15 do 13Jd, 2 do Hid, 4 do 10d, 4 bellies do 13£ d, 3 do 12d, 4 locks do lid. N.Z. &A. Land Co. over Pareora : Greasy — 13 crossbred 6d, 6 do withdrawn, 14 Leicester s|d, 7 do s|d. This clip was all right, especially the merinos. They were rather fatty, but otherwise good. Sold by Messrs Dv Croz, Doxat, and Co., March 22. — Omaiama : Grease-^-25 bales super combing 9d, 20 first do H 9d, 52 do BJd, 62 do-Sid, 4 do R B£d, 39 second do Sd, 13 first clothing H BJd, 54 do Bd, 20 second do 7Jd, 7DF 7§d, 23 broken BJd. This was a very nice lot of merinos. Nice quality, soxmd, but fatty and yolky. It sold well, and will turn out well for the grower. F in square. Grease — 49 halfbred second 9d, 43 do B£d, 46 three-quarterbred first H 6id, 52 do 6Jd, 51 do 6d,' 34 do second. H 6d, 36 do 6d, 5 do 6d, 44 do pieces 6d, 3 do 4d, 11 do locks 3d. This wool was well grown, but after the halfbieds the lots lacked a finer qxiality, and this was then weakness. Sold by Messrs Buxton, Ronald, and Co., March 23. — Raglan : Greasy — 11 bales halfbred combing 9Jd, 40 first crossbred do 7d, 19 second do withdrawn, 8 do 5Jd, 14 first do pieces- 4Jd, 6 do bellies 4d. WLA in diamond: 8 greasy first crossbred pieces 4gd. Three Springs: Greasy — 7 quarter-bred combing 9Jd, 10 first halfbred do 9|d, 10 second do 8&d, 21 crossbred do hoggets B£d, 15 do B£d, 9 first threequarterbred combing hoggets 6|d, 23 do 7d, 13 second do hoggets 6d, 22 do 7d, 5 fir.st do Lincoln do hoggets s|d, 7 second do 5Jd, 8 first crossbred and three-quarterbred pieces 5Jd; scoured — 3 first three-quarterbred combing 12d, 8 crossbred and do 9Jd, 2 do 9d, % 5 three-quarterbred B pieces 12id, 6 do pieces and crossbred lid, 5 crossbred pieces 9d, 2 do locks Sd. Cannington: Greasy — 2 merino BJd, 19 half bred hoggets Bd, 29<do 9d, 12 threeauarterbred Leicester hoggets 7d, 22 do 6Jd, 23 do Lincoln hoggets 6|d, 11 do ' 6Jd,^ 2 do 5Jd, 4 first halfbred pieces hoggets 7Jd, 4 do 7|d, 11 do three-quarterbred Leicester and Lii. coin s|d, 10 do and do 5Jd, 4 second halfbred and three-quarterbred pieces s*d, 4 do threequarterbred L and Leicester 4*d. The past week's trade ip the Home wool market has not been characterised by any further pronounced features save that the sound position of merinos is becoming more acute and difficult. Holders to-day feel more confident than ever that the future is with them, and they know that everything is in their favour. The course of pricet>, as will be seen from the 'table below, is altogether one of advance only on lines of a fine quality, and although to-day men are pressing for higher values still in merino?, spinners are very loth indeed to pay more. In fact, at this moment Bradford seems to he" the cheapest market in the world in which, to buy fine graae tops, being near Id below Contimental quotation But' better prices /are bound to come, and this is making only tliOoo •with the wind to raise' free sellers at current quotations. Consumption is, if anything, on a larger scale, imd holders are wisely exercising a good deal of patience and not pushing sales. The following table shows the full course of prices during the past month, and the figures given represent the general asking price of to-day: — /

Lincoln hoges Linccli) wethers Deep-grown hoggs Deep-Rrown ■wethers ... White super hoggs White super wethers Irish hogfjs Irish wethers Pick Shropshire hoggs ... Pick Sbrop. wethers Ordinary haltbred hogßf.. Ordinary half br e d wetheis Wiltshire Pown tegs Wiltshire Down^ewea ... Ordinary 60's, Buenoa A>re3topM Ordinary 60's, colonial tops Super GO's, colonial tops ... Ordiuary 4O'«, colonial tops Ordinary l) 6's, colonial tops Turkey average mob air ... Cave firsts, mohair Description of Staple. 1" (5. Si Si P P 71 f 3 ni d. f4 8} 7i I ! 71 8 s 8 71 i d. I? 74 74 7| I ! 71 f 3 1 A a. i; 74 71 ? 7-1 i? 3 d. 8; 8 7i 7. 7: yj 8' 7; n w 10i 7il 30ij i I 7 i IQi \ H i 7 10 10 101 214 =11 17i! I 20 213 2i 10 I 9 I I 18 ! 174 204 21 22 10 18 174 In 21 2?i 10 9 18 174 21 21 22 10 IS 17