WOOL INDUSTRY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 232, 1 October 1925, Page 4

WOOL INDUSTRY.

PIECE GOODS TRADE SHARP DROP IN" PRICES. The report of Messrs. H. Dawson and Co., on the current London wool sales is not very encouraging. They declare the outlook to be overcast, but at the same time state that there is a general feeling that the worst of the crisis is past. The prospects for the manufacturers have not improved and Bradford is in consequence operating with extreme caution, and the expectation of lower prices pervades the trade. The price of the finished product has apparently not yet reached the level of the purchasing power of the masses, and yet prices have been greatly reduced during | the past six or seven months. Repeatedly during the days of semi-boom the statement was made that wool was mounting faster than anything else. All the time in which values were moving upwards consumption was declining, and the world showed and less interest in piece goods: that was the undoing of wool values. Before the war solid worsted serges, IS-oz cloth made from 6-I's quality wool, could be bought, dyed and finished, at 5/9 per yard. This same cloth advanced to about 12/ per yard last December, a price that quickly killed the demand. This 18-oz cloth and the same fabric in 16-oz weight are "bread and butter lines," the cloth being worn the world over by men, and in still lighter weights by women. It is a common saying in the trade that when botany serges and coatings are in favour wool is always well able to take care of itself. Since last December standard cloths made in Bradford from different qualities wool have fallen considerably in value as will be seen from the following:— Dec. .Tuly, 1924. 1925. Botany serge, indigo, 17-1S oz., 55-oSin, 04's quality. 11 9 9 3 Crossbred serge, lndleo. 17-lSoz, 5<5-sSin, 00"B quality 9 0 7 3 Botany costume serge, black or navy. O-JHoz; 84-sein, G4 - s quality 6 5 o 21 Crossbred dress serge, 9oz, 541n, 46's quality 3 7} 2 Hi Proofed gabardine, 10-lloz, GOin, 56's quality. C 4 5 3 Costume wool gabardine, lloz, 541n, 64's quality., S3 6 7 Costume wool whipcord, 13oz, 541 n, 54's quality warp, 60's weft 9 1 7 3 Prices for fabrics 1 and 2 are coating measures, all others net measure. Terms, 2. per cent discount, delivery Bradford. It is these losses that are causing Bradford manufacturers to act . cautiously, arid it is evident that some grades of cloth must drop further to create a demand, and this is particularly true of serges which have been out of favour during the past two seasons.