DELAY IN WOOL SHIPMENTS

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25083, 15 January 1947, Page 6

DELAY IN WOOL SHIPMENTS

“GRAVE ECONOMIC DANGER”

CANADIAN IMPORTER’S STATEMENT

(P.A.) AUCKLAND, January 14. The grave economic danger to New Zealand in the delaying of wool shipments was emphasised by Mr L. Biggins, president of the Canadian Wool Company, Ltd., top makers, of Toronto, and of Willey-Biggins Wool Service Incorporated, wool importers, of Boston, who arrived by Tasman Empire Airways flying-boat from Sydney after a visit to Australia. Mr Biggins, g/ho is accompanied by his wife, intends to spend about a month in New Zealand renewing his prewar connexions in the wool trade and attending wool sales before returning by air to San Francisco. “If the present shipping delays continue, overseas buyers will simply have to look elsewhere for their wool,” said Mr Biggins “It is no use buying wool which cannot be delivered in a reasonable time, and we will have to go either to Australia, where the shipping position is not the best, but is better than New Zealand at present, or to South America. “My firms have wool lying here which we bought months ago. This does not encourage buying as it represents money tied up, and in spite of Canada’s protective tariff against it, we may be forced to turn to -South America for supplies. The Government here should be very concerned if the present situation goes much further, because wool is an important export. If sales stop, the country will be left with the season’s clip on its hands.”

There were alternative sources of supply available, Mr Biggins said, the most likely being Uruguay, where the wool was most nearly equivalent to types produced by New Zealand. The clip there was now coming on to the market, and, while there was no real surplus wool to be bought, the possibility of an earlier delivery would tend to offset any rise in price above New Zealand levels.

Ample supplies were available in Argentina, and he knew of cases where seven to eight years’ clips of low-grade crossbred wool were on hand. All Argentina's wool was not suitable as a substitute for New Zealand types, however.