AIL WANTED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 12, 15 January 1934, Page 8

AIL WANTED.

AUCKLAND'S WOOL.

A SPLENDID SALE.

AS GOOD AS WELLINGTON.

«EVERYBODY HAPPY."

Riding the crest of the wave, Auckland woolgrowers chuckled with delight to-day as the keen bidding of excited buyers at the' second Auckland sale of the season indicated that for them the depression has been left behind, and they are once more well on the way back to prosperous times.

The sale started at eight o'clock, and even before that comparatively early hour there were many signs of important happenings cxpected at the Town Hall, which had been especially requisitioned. An imposing bench of some 60 buyers had assembled. They were a cosmopolitan group, representing every important wool consuming country in the world, including Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan and U.S.A., and before the sale they could be seen in little groups chatting with goodliumoured nonchalance with brokers and officials on ■ any topic under the sun except wool. Eight o'clock! Sharp on the hour Messrs. Dalgety's auctioneer, Mr. E. L. Salmon, entered the auctioneer's box and faced the bench of buyers as well as a tidy crowd of spectators who at that early hour had come along to see the proceedings. First Sale at ll|d. The first lot offered was seven bales of crossbred ewe . lleece from a Taumarunui .farmer. A year ago this lot might have provoked a bid of foiirpence. To-day it was knocked dowii at lljd. And the auction proceeded' as famously as it had begun. The sensational clement provided lit Wellington last week was lacking. New records cannot be cxpected every day, and at the moment last week's prices in Wellington stand out like Lovelock's great mile run, and are hard to beat.

Bidding at first was quiet and restrained. There was a hesitancy to declare at the new high values, but once competition was started it ran to levels quite as high as had been hoped for. In one notable instance the auctioneer was kept waiting for the starting bid for a line of halfbred bellies and pieces. Then a start was made at lod, and competition ran the final bid up to lo^d.

Presently there came the offering of some good sized lots of attractive wools and the buying pace became a cracker. In a twinkling the collection of goodhumoured, dignified men, who, constitute the buying bench, seemed to have been transformed into a coterie of motley, excited rabble. These men had their orders to buy wool and they meant to get it. With staccato yells, piercing shrieks, frantic gestures, outstretched or waving arms, and-' apparently indignant protests they used every ruse known to their calling to catch the auctioneer's eyes or ears first-, and' tlie net result was something that to the uninitiated sounded 1 like pandemonium. However, these interludes were of only brief duration, and the sale as a whole proceeded along normal lines, with the exception that buying limits were much more elastic than usual. And all tlie time such of the growers as were present' sat back in the gallery with calm contentment as they noted the remarkable change which had come over the wool situation within the last twelve months. Condition of Clip. After the complimentary reference to the Auckland clip as represented at the November sale it might have been expected that to-day's offering would receive like commendation, but such is not the case. The chairman of the Wool Buyers' Association, Mr. Herbert Hill, in conversation with a "Star" reporter, said that" the standard of wool at this second sale was below that shown in November, and also inferior to last week's offering in Wellington. "It is heavier -in condition and badly got up," he said. "That is not to say that there are,not some excellent clips, well got up and efficiently classed, but the bulk is capable of considerable improvement. Of lines elassed on the farms a large proportion are poorly skirted, and there are very many of the smaller clips that have not been classed at all." These remarks did not apply to wool classed in the brokers' stores. In this connection it should be emphasised that the practice of bringing the wool into city stores to be classified is steadily growing, and to-day there was a larger proportion so dealt with than at previous fixtures. Evidently it is a policy that should be still further extended. : Source of Buying. The class of wool offered to-day did not attract so wide a range of buying as did that at Wellington. Being generally of a lower standard, the demand was restricted t§ those countries requiring this special class. Germany and France are keen , bidders for short, stubby wools, and. they were especially prominent. Japan was in the market for evenly graded wools of both fine and coarse types. America will not touch unskirted wools, while local mills were again strong competitors for the small proportion of finer wools available. But when final shipping instructions are received it will probably be found that as usual a big proportion will be marked with the destination Bradford, still pre-eminent as the world's great wool centre.

"Taken altogether," remarked one of the brokers, "the buying deemed to he evenly distributed, and this may be accepted as- a good, sign for the general stability of the market. At Wellington it was reported that Continental buyers were largely predominant, and while this trend continued there was the fear that values might not be sustained." In this respect lie considered that to-day's sale was better than Wellington's. The Catalogue. The quantities catalogued and the order of sale wsre as follow:— Bales. Dalgety and. Co., Ltd. 7,938 Abraham and Williams, Ltd. .. 3,034 Alfred Buckland and Sons, Ltd. 1,941 Farmers' Co-op. Auctioneering Co., Ltd., and the North Auckland Farmers' Co-op., Ltd. .. 5,504 3f.Z. Loan and Mercantile Agency Co., Ltd 6,139 Total ~i. 20,206

Old Wools Sell Well. When wool was in the doldrums many fanners were warned that by . holding on to their wool its condition would suffer materially, but this docs not seem to have been borne out by to-day's sale, where clips that had been held back for several seasons Realised satisfactory prices. As an instance, the following figures realised for a clip several years old may bo quoted: Finn crossbred, medium crossbred, 13|d; coarse crossbred, 12d; medium B crossbred, 13d; coarse B crossbred, lOd; medium hogget, 15d; first pieces, lOd; bellies, 9d; first lambs, lOJd; second lambs, IOJd. In supplying these particulars tho broker commented tersely: "There is no such thing as old wool when wool i» really wanted." Extent of the Rise. Compared with the first sale of the season held in November, when Auckland furtively led the way for the Dominion in this sensational wool revival, prices arc probably up from 25 to 30 per cent, and are approximately three times as high as they were at this time last year. Details taken from the first catalogue of prices realised to-day for grouped lots follow, the corresponding figures for last November sale being in parentheses: First dead, 11} (8d); second dead, Od (Gd); third dead, 7Jd (4Jd); A medium crossbred, 13Jd A strong crossbred, lO.jd (7d). B lO.'jd (Old); halfbred hogget, 201 d (lo£d); A fine crossbred hogget 20d (13? d); coarse crossbred hogget, 13kl (lOd); first cotts 10Jd (8 ; ] d); seedy cotts, Sd (5Jd); first bellies and pieces, BJd (8Jd); first seedy bellies and pieces, 9d (Cld); locks, 6!jd (4Jd); first crutcliings, B',d (5Jd); A Southdown, 233 d (22Ad); B Southdown, 22} d (14kl); halfbred," 18Jd to 22 : } d (14Jd to lSd). Coarse Wools Selling. The most notable feature of to-dsy's sale, said a leading broker to a "Star" reporter, is the wonderful demand for coarser and rather rough to average type of wools. These met with a keen and widespread demand at good payable prices, whereas a year ago they were virtually unsaleable. Some Special Clips. Amongst outstanding clips was that sent in by Mr. T. L. Vining, of Mangatangi; comprising Corriedales and halfbreds. Of the Corriedales 13 bales realised 24d, 9 bales of hogget 19Jd to 20d. Twelve bales of halfbred brought 23d and 5 bales of crossbred 21 }d, while bellies and pieces realised 16Jd. Mr. S. Allen, of Coromandel, obtained 19Jd for A crossbred ewes and 14|d for B's. Mr. W. Julius Hyde, of Takapan Point, secured 21d for halfbred, 15d to 18d for crossbred, and 7Jd for crutcliings. , Another very well-grown clip was that of Mr. E. L. Tucker, of Ohinew&i, whose prices were: Fine crossbred, 17d; medium hogget, 16d; medium crossbred, 14} d; coarse crossbred, 13d; B crossbred, 10} d. Mr. Gordon H. Wood, of Waimangu, had the following returns: Halfbred, 24-} d; fine crossbred, Slid; medium crossbred, 18Jd; bellies and pieces, 12Jd; lambs, laid.

Waihcke. was, as usual, well, to the fore in prices realised. For Messrs. J. and D. Gray's clip shorn on that island 25d was offered and refused for 22 bales of fine halfbred ewe wool. In the same entry halfbred hogget and -wether each realised 21Jd, bellies 17d, pieces 19id, second pieces, and locks lO^d. RETURNS IN PAST SEASONS. The following table gives tlie returns from the Auckland sales for the past six seasons: — 192G-27— Average a hale. Total. November .... £I~> 5 7 £264,000 February .... . 17 3 4 348.000 March 16 18 4 136,000 • Seasou's total £748,000 1927-28— November .... £21 9 9 £496.000 February 23 5 2 518.750 March — 29,000 Season's" total £1,043,750 1928-29— November £22 11 0 £495,876 February 18 11 8 498,880 April 16 2 8 29.92G Season's total £1,024,682 1930-31— November .... £6 13 2 £100,758 January 5 13 5 74,898 March 9 6 10 148,150 Season's total £323,506 1931-32— November .... £7 5 10 £103,131 January C 11 1 121,253 March 5 7 3 86.419 Season's total £310,803 1982-33— December £5 12 3 £132,118 January 6 17 1 148,450 March 5 3 2 61,318 Season's total '... £341,886 A Better Start. The opening sale of the present season returned £329,694. To-day's fixture may furnish over £400,000, so that with athird sale still to come the season's total should come reasonably close to •the figures ruling in the boom period.

It. must not forgotten that the exchange of 25 per cent between London and.New Zealand plays a part in the high prices paid to-day. The farmers are getting the benefit at the moment, but the swelling of credit balances in London through to-day's high prices will intensify the problems of the Government.