COLONIAL WOOL SALES.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16962, 11 October 1920, Page 9

COLONIAL WOOL SALES.

HUGE GOVERNMENT HOLDING. * (FROSI OUH OWN COHRZSrONOSN'X.) LOJMXMJ. August 37. For tho seventh, eerie* of Government Bulos of colonial wool, now. in progress, there are available 18,000 balce from 2»ew Zealand, and 73,00 bales from Australia. At the opening sitting, buyers from all tho principal Home centres woro in lurge uttendanco, und Continental Lou see were alto well represented vrh«n catalogues jointly oom--I )rising over 11,000 bales woro brought forward. There was a largo assortment of combing greasy morinos, and the finest qualities received notiv© support, chiefly from the Horns sections, at values ruling from ' 5 to 7J per cent, in, execs* of tho July level, while pood averago greasy lote "wore bought much, inoro freoly for tlie Continent than ; at recent auctione, at about unchanged ratea. Inferior and vrasly parcels, however, failed to-attract buyers, while- greasy clothing mori- • inos. and, lambs' wool, as well us scoured qualities,' , were neglected. l Fiuo greaey croae- . l>red» wore* generally 5 per cent, abovo July currencies, medium grades without material change, whilo coarse tioris were withdrawn. '< Now Zealand greaAy crosebrods rangod from 19d to <ajd- per lb,' the iop price, being . Tealised for -Victorian 'greasy jnerino3—Gid. It was clear •, from the outset (eays the , "Daily Telegraph" correspondent) that the--trade—especially the French section—is in a, decidedly better mood to buy. average ; gre'aey merinoe at from 3Cd to 48d, than it was over a month ago, when nioet of such, wools were ' withdrawn at tho earn© reserve limits. • Bidding for ehort clothing dsecriptions is still elowj however, nor can buyere be found for ordinary New Zealand low , ciosebreds and Atietraliaa oroeabrode of all qualitice below ,50'e if burry, again owing to the Govornment'e roeen , © limit*, wfcicji are on a clean basis 3d n lb higher than tho ii.A. maTket. TJio Government may be oii? capitalist, strong, and therefore ablo to hold its stocks for some time," saye tho critic, "but it -must realise that South. America is • a bij. country;, and that a- new clip is in eight in Australasia aleo. Individual squatters cannot hold up their wool*.. They must ecll at tb© jnarket price, and though it might inean a. loss on eome qualities if the Depart- ■ ment. -were to cut down it« .selling prices '■ 20 per this action might *aye a bigger lose- later. Tho Government' 3' eCook, chiefly , ill-neeortod and comparatively unwanted wool, . is 2,800,000 boles. ; From Bucnae Aires iho Cape, and Australasia we liaro in about twipe thut 'amount, much, better in eclco- t fiou" How aoee the, Departieemt hop© to ' rid of its huge holding if it refuses to ecll except at priree pence a pound higher than the market?" ' > The selection at the present eeriee will . probaijly be inucb. better tluux rue been the . caso for tb» paet two montlte at lee«t—"it could not very easily bo woree in morinw."' All roundj the selection promisee to bo a . good one, one must make allowance lor tho Department's habit of daecribiusr ordinary .biiny wools as extra euper combing ileccc.' ' It is a repetition of ite old Way* id Bradford," continues the "Daily Telegraph," ''when in i«#tor> eection, it used to fleecritf© 6<'s as 70"8; and 46'e aa 50's. Such tricks deceive 'no practical men- Valuers buy on their own judgment, not on the cata- ' lagiie deacxiption." ■ ' "Xho decision of the Ministry of Munitions to eell part of its holdings in the Colonies was of no great portent, because tho prices fisked were as high as can be made in this country. Thero is nobody *> foolish ae to "" pay aa much for wool 12,000 miles away a« it id worth hero. From whatever point of view <iio queetiou in considornd, it is clear that, except, on really superior warp, 64' a ' and V 0», tho Dopartment will have to tafcb , less money. Theee exceptional types are eoarco. Tho trade has beea etarrod of theni for two months. But other claeeoe are available in euch huge quantities that hopes ; of higher prices bt* groundless. Central Europe was at one time expected to come in end work wonders with the wool market. Nobody, in view of recent political history, ' can cspect that for eonvo months at least." i It i* mentioned that, throughout the re- . cent slump, Houbair has been eteadier than Bradford, and, after buying: scarcely anything laet series, ia now very actire, taking average morinoa of good quality, though generally too ehort or burry or tender for Bradford, nt 10 to 121 per oent. above the liondon rates for July. —It ia uniortunate for ■ France, from, the Rouba.ii wool point of view, ■ that tho exchange hue moved against her, making the abovo advance into at least 29 per cent. This eeiree to- emphasise the strength of the French market, which is decidodly above Bradford on ■ theeo average wools. Tho feature of the sale, so far an it haa progressed, was, for most people, the offering of superior Melbourne merinos, which were practically all taken by Yorkshire, at 7i per oent. advance. -. The "Daily Telepraph" mentions, too, that Bradford and Scotland wcto also keen buyers of the beet greaey fine New Zealand halfbrede, at about sto 74 per cent. riac.' J In fine New Zealand 6lipee thie advance wae fully 10 per cent No other -wools showed any quotable change, but 80 per cent, of the offerings were sold wbicb maxte a very great improvement on the last two months.