FIRST WOOL SALE

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22269, 7 December 1937, Page 13

FIRST WOOL SALE

Christchurch Fixture On Monday ALLOCATION MAY NOT BE FILLED Catalogues for the first Christchurch (wool sale of the season, to be held on Monday, are unlikely to be filled. [Wool has come in well, but the prices realised at the two sales so far held in the North Island have decided a number of growers to hold their clips over in the meantime. The allocation is 28,000 bales for this sale, but it appears likely that only about 25,000 will be offered. A total of 25,000 bales will, in actual fact, be quite large enough in the present somewhat disturbed state of the market, as a large quantity might he found difficult to absorb. The wool has come into stores freely, as the weather has been exceptionauy good for shearing for the greater part of the season. It is opening up well, and fn general is lighter in condition than the wool last season, but is 60und, though perhaps not quite as bright and showy, in some instances a fair amount of dry yolk is showing, but on the whole the quality of toe clip appears to be very good. As usual, a heavy proportion of the catalogue-for the first sale will consist of hogget wool, most of it halfbred and' Corriedale from the plains and the foothills. It is in good condition, but the wet and cold weather ~ of the autumn has affected the quality to some extent. Though it is good wool, with very much excellent quality among ic l it is not up to the very Li;h standards of the hogget wool oftued last year. . ,j.cst oi tne ewe wool to be offered is o. excellent quality, and that opened u ; j so iar is as good as, if not a shade b.iler than, the good selection placed before buyers at the first sale last ya\r. There is some really stylish wool, though the offering will contain few oi the notable Canterbury Hips. Though they are naturally disappointed, most growers are showing a willingness to meet the market, and it is unlikely that passings at Christchurch will be nearly as heavy as the exceptionally heavy total recorded for Auckland. It is, of course, realised that there will be a decline in price of about £6 a bale, but even with this recession, values will be about on a par with those at the beginning of the seaBon before last; when growers were quite satisfied. The outlook for the season as a whole is at present obscure. • The .North Island sales have shown that there is no undue anxiety among , users to acquire raw wool, but that Ithere apepars to be a. market for it at certain well defined limits. The reverse side of the picture is that all countries are at present short of stocks, and that without any marked ; recession in prosperity in the main consuming countries, with the exception possibly of Japan, manufacturers will eventually be forced into the market again. Prices are now low enough to assure a determined demand as Boon as there is any upward move, but whether this move will start bej (ore the end of the Dominion season 1 or not is impossible to determine.