OUR ENGLISH WOOL LETTER.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13097, 23 April 1908, Page 2

OUR ENGLISH WOOL LETTER.

« (SPECIALLY WBITTEN FOR " THB PRESS."] BRADFORD, February 29. Wool conditions here do not show a great deal of change compared with a week n-go, and things generally are neither better nor -worse- If I "was compelled to give a judicial opinion I would say the latter, and for this reason: I can buy to-day from half a dozen of our loading top-makers tihoir standard super 60's top at 25d —and los-3. I don't take much notice of the loose, flippant ta3k which is indnflged in by thotso who Iwuve never much at stake, but when a good firm of spinners is submitted samples of super 60's tops niaicHa by '-tike fiargest firm of Bradford importers with ttho exception . of one, then I unhesitatingly say that .prices are none too firm. Tihis week too surprises have beon givem to the trade, and they axe these: First, several cannot understand the attitude of Whiteheads' refusing to budge & fraction and take anything less than 2s 2id for ftiheir standard super 60's top; end. second, that every other firm of standing and not* will' sell their super 60'e at 25d. Hero we see a difference of lid per lb, and those behind the eoeno want to know why. In tlh© case of th-e Imistordyko firm, I havo tho information first hand that nfll along iihey havo boon heavy sellers for forward delivery, and their policy has been a very wise one. Aβ wool has been, bought tihey have sold at this end, and .possibly sold more tliam they ' had covered for in Australia, at tho time. Tiho result ie that they have yet eomw big weights of mierincs to deliver, 'and believing that the tirade, although loss brisk than last year, is s'lJJi aiblo to absorb every blade of good combing wool, will not sell at Ices. In regard to other importers, I don't think thore is ono anything like as I iavourn-hlv circumstanced as the i Laisterdyko firm. Somo have bought , heavily in Australia, and thedr imports are coming along thick and fast. They feel that it is policy to 6<Jl all they ; can at the best prices obtainable, and : if I durst mention the names of big ! and honouraiblo firms tibat are to-day wiHintr sellers at 25d, surprise would < fill tJift mind of every reader. They : must bo losing money without end or side, and no doubt some are of tllie ; opinion thai tihoy had better foce the f inevitable and know their loss at first, [ rather tihaji stick on and poeeibly lose j u.oro in tli© end. 1 don't think that i among the majority of even merino ; topmakore there is a very confident ; feeling that we aro going to boo very ■ much Ivpjh-cr prices than What obtain ; 10-tliiv, but 1 say that depends entirely i , i •■■•■! ' r-n,,nn:ption. Xew business is vrvv (f!i-;):ruciis by ite absence, and ■. !:o ie general t-hait even in :; riucti icpmakcirs can, sell "nowt." i ere is n igpncral ddspesition on the -:.rt of fipinnere <to take up their cony tracts and clear them off before buying ngain, and if they do buy. it has to be ;'iii a ruinous- price. Hero* is a ense in point:—A very good ppinner was glhown yeuterday a top onl.y worth a J loss .in actual vulne than on' average i litandani 6iiper 60'e top. The lot com- , prised iust under 100 paclis. Tlie i sdler asked 24id, and the spinner coolly bid 23Jd, and got them! The I market mnn of a big firm down" Ganal ; road told mc ho had had offered yX?s- ---! terday morning a tOiort Cape top, excellent quality, as whit-o as driven snwv, but eiliort, at 23id, and quite easily he got it at i a farthing less. To speak j frankly spinners will not rxiy more than 24jd for a good standard Australian top, omd something much bettor will laave to obtain before these low prices are a thing of the past. TKe eouudest factor continues to be the great Briskness of our commission woolcomboTß, and firms like Holdens', Greenwoods', Holdon Burnleys', Avttons', and all t-lio rest are still delivering -tope red hot. jjut with every ponmd that is going out. a serious 'oss is having to be faced,* and this , takes the gilt off the ginger breadCROSSBREDS XO BETTER. Crossbreds are just about as thiey were, and 40's tops can be bought anywhere a* to 12d. There is still no Continental demand for either tope or yarns, and not a few are just about stuck fast. Perhaps there has been a little more enquiry of the part of.the Canitineni, but offers are oxtremely low, and with there beinc less sorand-hand yarns offerings sowo . think that wo aro at tlicbat43om. A few lots of Eood 36's have been sold at IOJd to lid, but such a price is a ruinous am*. There arc aJivady 76,000 bale 3 «f New SSociland wool availaWc for the next series in London, and nearly a fortn-ijziht .has y«t toelspso before the ILste axe closed ;

hence it looks as if • there -will be available all about 100,000 balm Surely such low prices es these will create a demand, for prices of clothes have been correspomdineiy reduced in order to tempt business. It is hard to put upon paper the difference there is m manufacturing conditions compared with a year ego, and while machinery is yet running on old orders, still there is great reticence displayed jabout placing new contracts, and piece orders are cut down to the minimum Even a normal bank rate does not create confidence such as could bo expected, arid I rather think that pessimism is riding on the box seat, and also driving. IMPORTS TURNING OUT BADLY. Naturally imports have had a thoroughing testing, and I fancy from what I hear that a fairly warm time awaits some buyers when they arrivo Home. Some seem to have lost their bead altogether in the frantic haste they made to get wool last October and November, and some doleful accounts are hoard of heavy losses. The wool bought in Adelaide seems to be turnin" , out as dear as any. It is common knowledge that one buyer had a limit of 2s 3d to work to, although the firm had sold tops forward at 2s sd. They thought if their man could buy there, they would bo all right, and ho accordingly bought. Imagine their feelings when their first lot of tops cost them a frnction orer 2s o^1! There is no doubt that some very long prices were paid for the heavy, red, Salt Bush wools. This season they are particularly well grown, and I saw in London were lighter and better uian I have ever seen, but red, earthy wools always shrink more- than what they appear to do. One night in our hotel three buyers were arguing stroTgly what the first two combing lots would shrink of a well-known northern clip from South Australia, and there was a difference in the expressed opinion of 5 per cent. Melbourne bought wools seem to be doing as well as any, but they are exceedingly burry. With the serious drop in the price of noils, and particularly seedy, burry noils, the- cost of combing has been increased, and if a top comes in at, the limit given, yet with tho serious shrinkage in noils, tho cost of fhe former has been increased Id to Id per lb. Gompln.ints are rife that Sydney bought wools are short and very £iio. There has already been more than ono row on this account, and for warp 60's and 64's there is much crying out. New South Wales has produced very few of these clips, and being wanted is tho cause of many complaints. COURSE OF NOIL PRICES. Nothing but stagnation prevails in the- noil world, antTdealers and export merchants are about stuck fast. WMi woolcombers being biisy.the.ro is conecqueaiitly a big output, and aJso a very bin stock. Tho Continent has always been a,n excellent customer for.Bradford nodls, but export houses have br>en unusually quiet, and ha-ve notdone half what thoy did laefc year. Them Mie consumption of nodle among English usere has suffered a nasty knock in the change of fashions. _ It is surprising how one industry is dependent unon the otihor, and the class connection of different phases of wool manufacture comes out oloaa-ly in the nodi situation. Who would think that tho great change which lias cram c> to pass, and tho urtiiver&al adoption of caps instead ctf felt Jva-ts. would affect such, a by-product as noils. And yet this is ematly what has taken place. If tiho crazo spreads wo eihall next be seeing the ordinary business man go to office "and market in a woollen cap insibead of the customary felt hat. Now in hai'timr districts in tiho past rome big weights of roils have always been consumed, but with co many soft caps heiiniz worn, it has considerably diminish«T + .ho demand for noils. Then tiho flannel- trado is not as busy as it was, nnd tihis hns also affectrd 'both.. con-' sumiption and price. The following table shows tha course oi noil prices for nearly a year past, and the decline has greatly affected topmakers:— Maroh 29. Jam. 1.--To-day's 1907. 1908. Price. Quality. d- d. A. d. d. d. 70-8 .. .. irs-i9J v m-m is -1 7 We .. .. 171-181 161-17J 14 -15 CO's .. .. 16J-174 15A-161 12i-131 GC'e 14J-151 134-141 IU-12 30'e .. •• 121-19S ] °i- n 4 9 H°J Ift's oarded .-. HMU 8J" X 8- 9 U's prepared .. 9J-10J 9-W 7J- 8i 44's csrled •• »|-10i 8J 71- 84 40's .. 10-aOi 0-10 ' 8-9 3G' B px«l>wcd .. 9-10 BJ-9! 8-84 THE FUTURE OF GRiOSSBREDS. The adage, never to propibesy unices you know, could never be more wisely enforced than at present, for the future of ercssibreds is a veritable proMem. Prices have now fallen nearly 50 nor ccmt. from the highest point. and"they ce-rtnin-Iy are .looking nnoao rcafiatutMe. I don't for a moment think that it is a. question of price a* all tihat trouMcG ueera. What to-day is the missimg linJv is a<n afecnice oif now irasineßS, and until there is a return of ortlere, wo are bound to sco slack, d-ra-gging marke-ts. lfoe trad* is anxiously woitine to see what Ixm-, don dors cm ITHlili, and the %yr wf'vi\it of wool which wiill then ho avail nble will give values a tiro rough testine. Scti:k> think that the bottom iV all about touched, hut pTkxs will faU ko kms as iihero is no trade, and 6inc<? last Novcmbcir it has been a rottw timo. F.verrthiing men ihavo has lost them money, and every woolgrower knows wlitit tliat means. There is -little encouragement for any man t< , buy 'to stock when lie knows the prosm"t6 are poor for being abJo to get back .his own, and the amount of lnon-ey Icet in t.ho wool trade during liis=it. three, months must arnmuit t<> r.iiliions. Some seem to think tha.t tpinnoTß have taken during the p-as* week a few Continental yarn- orders, and there bas boon Ices offering of second hand parcels, but they are not running to cover same with tops, althon<Eh several have bought quietlr a-t rer>- low ririccs during -Hie txif* fortnight. Short time is bcinor -worked in. many of tlie German textile centres, and contraction 6e©ms'to ba t'hoorder o.f tho da;- all round. Many complaints j are coming through from Germany respecting present deliveries of yarns, and t-h.? sllohiteet excuse is being mad" to vrijrcrle ont of old contracts or to g-c-t re<luctions.