MELBOURNE AS A MARKET FOR NEW ZEALAND WOOL.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 9125, 8 June 1895, Page 8

MELBOURNE AS A MARKET FOR NEW ZEALAND WOOL.

Messrs Todhonter and Jennings write to as as follows :— Immediately before our last wool season strenuous efforts were made by a well-known firm of Melbourne woolbrokera, through their agents in this city, to induce New Zealand woolgrowera to oonsiga clips to Melbourne and try their fortune there in preference to selling at our local sales as heretofore ; their contention being that as Melbourne was rapidly becoming one of the wool markets of the world, the large turnover not only attracted a sufficient number of buyers to ensuie ample competition, and consequently full market rates, but that it also enabled selling brokers to reduce their charges to a minimum. Probably only a email proportion of Canterbury sheepowners tried the experiment, but some of them, influenced doubtless by the low prices ruling here, and by the inducements held out by Australian woolbrokers, sect shipments for sale in Melbourne. Their returns are now to hand, and by the kindness of a gentleman who has placed his account sales at our disposal, we are able to lay the actual figures before our friends in this district, and from them they will doubtless be able to draw their own conclusions.

For the sake of comparison we give a memorandum of the

Charges on Clip of 1893-4 sold in Christchurch —100 bales half bred and merino wool, average nett weight per bale 3751b ; average net return to grower per bale, £9 2s lOd; average nett price per lb, 5.85 d. Charges— Receiving, cartage, lotting, weighing, cataloguing and fire insurance, per bale, 2s 9d ; commission 2 2 per cent, on £500 and 1 per cent, on balance of proceeds of clip amounts per bale to 33 4d; total brokers' charges per bale, 6s Id ; total selling charges per lb, 0.19 J. With the exception of rail treighb, the above amount covers every charge borne by the vendor after the wool leaves his shed.

Charges on Clip of 1894 5 sold in Melbourne—loo balee half bred and merino wool, average nett weight per bale 5751b ; average nett return per bale, £6 4s 5d ; average nett price per lb, 3.98 d. Charges in Melbourne —Receiving £d per lb on 3751b, 3s lid ; fire insurance at per bale, 6d; advertising, cataloguing and posting, 9d ; attending cartage, wharfage, cables, &c, Is 9d ; commission 2£ per cent, on £6 4s sd, 33 Id ; repacking (12 per cent, of the clip was re-packed at a charge of 3s 6d per bale), or a charge per bale on the lot of sd; steamer freight per bale, 4s. Total Melbourne charges, 14s sd. Christchurch shipping charges—Wharfage, hauling and attending per bale, Is 3d; marine insurance, Is 6d; Export entry aud bills of lading, £1 on the clip, say per bale, 2d ; storing at Port, weighing, labour, marking, &c, per bale, Iβ 3d ; receiving, delivering, shipping, &c, per bale, 9 J ; exchange, 15a on clip, say per bale, 9J. Total, 5s Bd. Incidental expenses — Lose in weight date of shipment to returns 1781b, say 1.78 per bale at the average price 3.98 per lb, equal to per bale, 7d ; loss of interest, wool shorn in time for our January sale, re:urns received third week in May, say three months at 8 per cent, on £6 4s si, 2s 7d ; total cost of selling in Melbourne per bale, £1 3s 3d; total cost of selling in Melbourne per lb, 0.74 d. The above charges do not include railage to Port.

Re-packing—We have handled this clip for some years and never had to repack a bale. If, as appears to be the case, it is necessitated by damage incurred on the voyage it must certainly be taken as part of the cost of selling in Australia.

Interest—With reference to this item it is worth while to point out that while the whole clip was ready for shipment by the middle of January account sales only come to band late in May, a delay in settlement, as compared with the local market, of nearly four months.

These charges appear heavy in comparison with our own. but even the increase of 0*55, or say a halfpenny per lb or 17s 2d per bale might be justified if there were a corresponding rise in price. That this not so, however, the following table showing the prices realised by the principal lines of the clip for the past three years conclusively proves. Sold here it would have been in our J anuary sale, and allowing a drop of. say 15 per cent, in that class of wool since the 1893-4 season, there is atill a good margin in favour of the Christchurch market, apart from the fact that the clip ha 3 been improving every year, and we believe it to be better both in staple and condition in 1895 than 1894.

One more fact with reference to the subject, and we have finished. The clip was sold at six different dates. No attempt appears to have been made to offer it as a whole, a few odd bales being offered at each sale as it happened to come to hand. Thus the first lot sold comprised 3 bales lat combing halfbred, 1 bale dingy do, 3 bales 1 and 2 do, 1 bale bellies—9 bales. The second 8 bales merino Ist combing, 6 bales merino, Ist pieces, 3 bales 2nd do, 2 bales merino wethers, 10 bales Ist combing halfbred—29 bales, and so on, without any attempt to display even the better lines to advantage. A careful study of the figures given above will, we think, afford ample food for reflection to t&y of our friends who may contemplate the consignment of their wool to Melbourne.

Description. eg to -g 5 C3 fi-S 6 .si isi 1st Combing Halfbred Hocrgets 2nd 1st Pieces „ „ Bellies „ ,, 1st Combing Merino E. and W. 2nd „ ,. 1 Clothing O x>. n 7i i 6i 5* D. 8 8 7i 5J 6} 6' 6 9 3J D. V 5i 4 2 2 „ 1st Pieces „ Bellies n Locks „ 6 * 3 Bales made 6d, t About half the line sold for 4d. Average nett priceper lb Christchurch, 1894 Average net price per lb, Melbourne, 1895 5-84 pence 3-90 „ Difference ... Allow a drop of 15 per cent, on 1894price for drop in values, 1894 bo 1895 1-94 ,, 087 „ Thia leaves a difference' in the average nett price per lb of the whole clip in favour of Christchnrch of ... 1 07 pence SUMMARY. 1894. Christchurch. 1895. Melbourne. Difference in favour of Christchurch. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. average nett return to grower per bale of 3751b .. 9 2 10 6 4 5 2 18 5 - Pence. Pence. Pence. iverage nett price perlb .. iflow 15 per cent. drop in value from 1894 to 1895 5.84 3.90 1.94 0.87 Lverage nett price per lb on corresponding bases of value 4.97 1.07 3.90 verage selling charges per lb 0.19 0.74 0.55 verage selling charges per bale .. 6A 23/3 17/2