WOOL SEASON CLOSES

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21133, 7 April 1934, Page 12

WOOL SEASON CLOSES

PLEASANT SURPRISE, FROM FOURTH SALE RETURNS DOUBLED THIS YEAR The 1933-34 wool selling season in Christenurch ended on a cheerful note yesterday when at the fourth i and final sale of the scries fine I fieere wools and pieces were up to ;a penny a pound dearer lhan they were at the second sale. In spite of the very small offering and the I inferior quality of most of the wool. ; bidding was keen all through, and j Continental and English buyers operated freely. A good deal of crossI bred was included in the catalogue, j and this sold steadily at values fully 'up to those ruling recently. The prices paid were n pleasant surprise to all connected with the industry. The catalogue was far i from attractive, ns it was made up mainly from odd lots, with a great [ many lines of pieces and lower dcj scriptions, and very few straight i lines of fleece. At most, prices in j line with those ruling at the third i sale were expected, but almost from | the opening bid it became apparent | that buyers still wanted all the : wool they could get, and were prcI pared to pay for it. I I Stoics Now Rare | Last season closed with a considerable carry-over of wool, not only in the stores, where, of course, it could be accurately estimated, but also in the hands of farmers, some of whom had held two and even three years' clips in the hope of an improvement in the market. All that wool has not been cleaned up, in fact, the catalogue of only 4200 odd bales yesterday was an indication that growers had been HnxiC'is to sell, and had disposed of the greater part of their wool at the three earlier sales. The stores are now practically bare of wool, and it is extremely doubtful if there is any quantity at all held in the country. No figures arc yet available to show the total realisation from yesterday's sale, but an average of £l4 a bale would give a return of approximately £50,000 for the wool sold. These figures can be nothing more than approximations, but are on the conservative side. A return of £50.000 yesterday brings the total realisation for North Canterbury this season up to a little more than £1,510.000—a good deal more than one-third of the total realisation for the whole of the Dominion last season, when the figure was £4.239.720. A month ago the total realisation for the Dominion had passed the £7.000,000 mark, and it is likely that when the season ends, the cheque to be paid to the farmers of New Zealand will be slightly more than twice that of Just season. Shorter Offerings In Canterbury this season, as in most other centres throughout the line-wool producing countries of the world, there has been a shorter lolal offering lhan there was last season. The figure for the four Christchnrch sales this season is a little more than 77.000 bales, compared with a total sale of 34.47G bales last season. The average price of a bale Inst season was £9 8s 9d. but the realisation on each bale this season will be approximately double that amount. The following table gives the official figures for the first three sales of this season, as well as the official figures for the whole of New Zealand last season, figures which give a most illuminating comparison:— Rales Rcah.a- Price Price sold. tion. per lb. a bale. £ d £ s. d. First sale 23.000 422.025 13.18 IB 7 5 Second Fale—--27.246 629,430 17.032 23 2 o'. Third sale—--22,989 411,517 12.313 1, 13 o'. Last year--"103.505 4.230,720 5.163 7 10 5:; Reversal of Outlook The season 1933-34 lias seen a complete reversal in the outlook of the wool grower. At. this time last year, he had the exchange premium to thank for a slightly improved realisation after three years of orices which in most cases were far below the cost of production. Even last year, most farmers found it impossible to meet costs. This year at least, the wool grower has been able to sell his clip with the feeling that there would be something left for him after expenses were paid.