I DEMAND FOR WOOL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 309, 31 December 1938, Page 4

I DEMAND FOR WOOL.

! NEW YEAR PROSPECTS. HOPES OF HIGHER PRICES. NEXT AIVKLAND SALE. i ! Fai mors !!m <-utiii>Hi t New Zealand arc •hoping that the New Year will bring j aidier woo! pi ires. The selling season so :.l! lias beell „it isl'aetory. i:>e Woo! Sclllilg I I'reel.v. but a higher range of pines j appeals iiei-tvs.ny to give a reasonably ipioiitalile refill i: 1" gioweis. So Ia i t' I<l «• has been little until .it ion ot an iiupiowjnieiit. bnl no one ran tell what 1030 wili ! i»l 111 _i. I lie 11 r\ t sail- 111 Auckland. on '-1 a 11:..11 \ '24. Hill be awaited with ke'i, ' : 111 e l et-1 . | Six ,-ales have b"eu held alrtsidy since I II S'.IM'II opened a 1111 t lie let'lln to t ll' grower on the liist loiind will be about I LI'.J.IO.MiO. This is about U 1 .000.(100 less I than the let 11! 11 111 the ii.s! six sale.-, of : tiie i et-■ ird l! 130 season, but well abo\e | iast yell's limine. £ 1.74f>.1«"Kt. j !\etui lis for the preset t )t-;ii are Ia d v ersely affected m com pll ison Willi prej v:o;n mm by the fai-t that olfei ilia's ; ! I <\ e been limileil to 24.nun bal.t, at each i centre. Although this do-'s not gieatly I affect t.iie com pa I i.mi|i with last y eai . when | glowers held bark llnii supplies at the jeaiiicr sales. thoic was a rush to sell in I'.r.ii when \ahie- iuic ruling and | e.it-alogucs ueic coin pal at i vely large. Excellent Clearances. i t>lie .rf ihe nos't ple.lsiue fo.ltlll'es ot ; ; lie auctions so tar this sea«son is the w ili-|!njn<-ss of overs to meet the market, land at the tilst six fixtures; cleat anros J I'Xeei'dcd !>.') pel rent, rein-hiim ovei i>".> pel | rent at Aurhland and Napici. I The opening Aiirkland sales ill thr pre- , i in,;.-- Iwo x e,nr. ue;e t einarkahie. l-'i antic • lapainsr lni\ ii-t_r lilietl values in 1 fKiti In | about ti" per i-eiil. while the opening last year was in diivcl contl.int, for pliers diopprd liv £7 a bale, and only per rent of the catalogue w .IS disposed of. j I'he first auction ot the piivent season aas awaited with intens-e interest, and the excellent clearance at slightly improved prii i-.s irave genornl sat isfact ion. Results at N.Lpier and Wellington wire just as good. The (ihi-Lstehui • h sale at tracted mot e than usual interest, as it is usually the tiist occasion when sufficient half broil and Merino wool is otlored to «*-t il>;u>l, a market. At the North Island fixtures there had I>oen a noticeable pi cferonee for eoar.-ef liuying "'i* strong and aiiiinated, and. while values were below the first sale in 1!>37. when levels ruled whii.-h were above the tnai ket, no ground was lost from the previous anetions. X'.ilu.-s at Tiinaru remained vety til in. and pa-~sinxs 'A ere kss tiian cent. i'liciT; remained firm at Dnnedin. but in some rases trrou ers v. ere not inclined to meet the niaiket. In spite of this a rh-aianre of !H> per cent was made and competition was well spread. While it is evident that growers will not liven e til-* almost boom valiKts of the 103(5-37 seison. theie is every indication that the filial ■ heipie «ill exceed tlnit of last m.m-oii. The chief sat isfart ion lif>s in the fart that wool is wanted by tin" majority of the overseas markets and

I farmers \* Im have already offeree! their jdijis have found ready puichawrs at pricc.s uliir-li must {><■ regarded an fairly «Uipfactory. Australian Conditions. In their latent circular Mpsmk. Wituhcombc, C.)i>i>!i. Limited, state that if who! ■M'llti as freely in 1039 an it lint; in 10: IS. no complaint 011 that wore will be ju.-t'l- - but a higher range of prices I'm it is certainly nevewary. Tlie only advantage of the esistin' se.de of values in the ability it provides j for the s.liopp"s ota.pl*' to keep the use of J sii'iftitiite fibres in check. Jll the linst , stag.-s of the ilevelopnieilt of blending artificial libres with wool in Germany ami Italy. Japanese demand for the sheep's product was increasing ami Us presence to a considerable extent offset the reduced in<l 11 iiy from the two countries mentioned. I I*!i*• seasons 193.">-30 and 19.'}0-,'?7 were favj ourable pe'iods for growers, the averages 1 for A lift ra lian wool for the two yearn being 14.2 d and lti.Td per lb: but those were two very liirht buying periods for Germany ami Italy, high value* being experienced denpite their reduced operations. The (|iiantity of wool bought by those two * onsumers has increased since its declined. They ale slioi t of fund* to pay for imports and the lower price enables them to buy with more freedom. That situation indicates lh.it the displacement of wool by artificial fibres is more a question of financial "ways and means" than a preference for the latter. With lamer supplies of wool available more of it has been consumed at the German mills. In Italy, however, during in i *1-IIKIS the Muantitv of not. only wool, but all other fibres decreased. Of late Italian orders for wool have revived considerably. During XovenilxT over I'J.IMIO bales were exported from Australia to Italv. or nearly twice ais much as the quantity shipped from July to the end of October.

Advantage of Low Rates. Anxiety t>> see vnol prices oil higher levels cannot blind jrrowers to these fads. A i ise (it 10 per cent to I"> per cent oil present, lijrurcs would probably not have :i iiy appreciable effect on fietman ai 1 Italian orders: but in J)ec«in!w.-i'. IO.'VT. wool was milch dearer than it is to-day. If by some extraordinary cireu-mstancrs rates rushed up to that basis. it its practically certain thiil. CJermany and Italy could not follow tlit-in upward. As a result, such a spectacular advance could only prove temporary. Mill activity in the I'uited States has definitely recovered from its depressed condition seen earlier in the year. Unfilled I orders for men's woollen textiles on hand lat close of Octolxv were 2->.000.000 yards. I lieill'_' 9,000.000 yards more than a month before. 11l March the unfilled orders for men's, women's and auto cloths were only 15.SDti.000 yards and at the end of Septemlier 24.500.000 square yards. Darin: the five months ending November 1a,721 bales of wool were exported from Australia to America. The total for the whole of List r-:"as<)!I was only 1fi.522 bales. Some regain in American orders has consequently been seell. Reason for an outlook tinjred with optimism is justified. Room for a rise exists and. if 10.S0 is free of the international nnsettlement which harried the world in the past 12 months, it should eventuate.

TIMARU SALE RETURNS. £201,802 FOR TIMARU. < IS.v Tclesrapli,— Pre--* Association.) TIMARU. Friday. 1 11»» return from the Timaru wool sale amounted to £201.802. which wh-j paid for 1.">..i~2 bal(*«. At the corresponding <n!e Inst vear 14.'?18 bal"s were sold for a total of f2tl.fißo. The average price per bale this year was €12 10'. aL'ainxt ClO 10 11 at the first sale last season.