SUM OF £1,375,086.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 90, 16 April 1940, Page 4

SUM OF £1,375,086.

AUCKLAND WOOL CHEQUE. REPRESENTS BIG ADVANCE. FEWER BALES OFFERED. Taking into consideration the total value of the wool received at the fifth appraisal on April 1 and 2, the total value of the wool cheque for the Auckland province for the 1939-40 season is £1,375.086. This is the fourth year in succession that the cheque has been more than one million pounds, and it is exceeded only by the record of £1.528.540, established in 1936-37. Official figures for the fifth appraisal have been issued by the secretary of the Auckland Wool-brokers' Association, Mr. J. E. Connor. They show that 4927 bales were appraised, of a weight of 1,645,7751b. The total value was £74,136. while the average price .per bale was £15 0/11, and per pound 10.81 d. The five appraisals this season resulted: Average Average a bale. per lb. Value. £ s. d. (1. £ November .. 17 4 in 11.97 373.203 December .. 17 0 !) 11.«« 328.745 January ... 17 4 3 11.03 37U.058 February .. . I<> 5 0 11.'J4 222,ft4:{ April 15 011 10.81 74,130 April Values Lower. The value per pound of the April appraisal is lower than that of the other four, but thr.t was expected, since, as anticipate!. poo er sorts of wool came forward. The average price this season is an increase on last season; but the increase is really more than is shown on paper, as the growers, under the British wartime purchase scheme, do not have to meet as many charges as previously. The number of bales this season is fewer than last. It is 81.431, compared with 84,765 last season. The decline is due partly to the fact that Tokomaru Bay and Tolaga Bay have been used as appraisal centres. Previously part of the wool sent there used to come to Auclfland. Sheep flocks are also lower, as growers have not quite replaced the depletions due to the outbreak of facial eczema. The cold weather early in the season has also caused the clip to be lighter. Progress Dominion Figures. Appraisals throughout the Dominion will continue until the end of the month, so that complete figures are not yet available. Up to February 29, however, the quantity of wool appraised and purchased amounted to 571.488 bales of a value of £9,963,872. The average price per bale to that date w-as £17 8/8, and per pound 12.22 d. Under the present Imperial purchase scheme the grower or owner of the wool receives the £9,963,872, less 5 per cent, which is retained in a suspense account, and which may be returned to tile seller on the final settlement of the whole business. The basic purchase price was 12.187 d per pound. The average price so far is 12.22 d per pound—that is, from November, 1939, to February. 1940, inclusive. The position of the wool price of the Dominion last "wool year," closing June 30, 1939, was a gross return of £9.386.375 for 720.202 bales sold in the Dominion, averaging 9.17 d per pound and £13 0/8 per bale. Ob the 1939-40 appraisals the wool this year will return fully 3d per lb more than for 1938-39.