AMERICAN VIEWS ON WOOL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXI, Issue 7918, 26 November 1909, Page 1

AMERICAN VIEWS ON WOOL.

The, views of a. large . Philidelphia wool-buying firm on the present outlook for wool are expressed m the following private letter to a Manchester correspondent::.,.',' It is .qiiite'. evident that you are somewhat of a bear on the market. We are also, as far as buying is concerned, but m many/, corners of the globe (and we reach most corners where wool is'to'be got) I find it very difficult to' convince sellers that wool isj too. high. Unfortunately _ they ape able to maintain their position. For.-instance, m Russia they hardly make any offers at all, and what they do are 15- to 20 per cent higher than! at the ebmineneement of .this season and 50 per cent higher than last year.. We never knew so little wool available for export from Russia as this year has shown. China, wools also are not very-; plentiful, /and 'are' very dear, wools, and 411; kinds bf'skin wools from] the Continent? which we used to export very largely, are getting so scarce that it is hardly possible to pick up: a,- decent lot any more. As you say,; Eap.t.. I,lndia wools . are r .p.len ! tiful, and) •they are about the cheapest thing go-] ling m the way ofa low wool; but ourj impression is that the next sales will! bring'to'an end thY large supplies. Af«; ter that quantities will be on a nor-i maT basis. Australian wools are irir. creasing, f and al^o-: Cape wools, but they; dbh'i dous any good. Cape wools we cannot import profitably on account dfi j4he duty, and Australian wools won't; take the place of low qualities of carpet. So that whilst we can believe that. Australian land similar wools haveTeatched as high a price as (if nqt; .higner than) they should, and possibly, if the demand slackens we may see lower prices, yet it-looks to us that m what we call 'carpet wools' there is go-: 'ing to he no slump unless we were tpj have what we :, scarcely; expect—name-; ly, a 'panic' or some similar cessation of business.. Here, things look -pretty ''b"flgh'C Our mills are ail doing well,: $■$$ of course that means an enormous: consumption. We find some of oiir carpet mills are very much worried; as to where they: arje. going, to; get certain classes of wool whiclr-are not m too great a supply "at present.