THIRD CHRISTCHURCH WOOL SALE

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27584, 15 February 1955, Page 15

THIRD CHRISTCHURCH WOOL SALE

Sound And Widespread

Demand

MOST DESCRIPTIONS 3D DEARER

this season disclosed^particidarly 1 ° f description of wool. Merinos and « “ “£?k I every December rates, and all types seemeOo VwanteT I*’ 1 *’ ab ° Ve Buying was widely spread, and the sale settled down a few minutes after tt**dtoalevel of values which it maintained Sft. PaL P ns Ce (sXSnk)°. r nU,e baleS ° f Corriedale ewe

Of the , B j x broke rs’ catalogues, which totalled 23,324 bales, were sold. The rest of tho kit L. n y catalogue will be offered tomorrow 45,617-bale

The Repertory Theatre, where the Male is being held, was not specially noisy yesterday, but the sale was in every respect easily the best held this season. Selling began at 8.30 a.m. and was finished at 4 p.m., and a steady pace was kept up all day. Buyers settled down more quickly than might have been expected after a relatively long period without any test of the fine wool market, and the day’s excellent basis of values was struck early and maintained to the end.

No doubt the most satisfactory aspect of the sale was the sound demand for every sort of wool. Crossbreds have had a remarkable run this season, but at the earlier sales there was a tendency to write down the secondary descriptions of finer wools. Yesterday there was a solid demand for these secondary sorts, and prices were distinctly higher than they were earlier. Some of the stronger halfbreds were back to the levels of the February sale last year. Merinos are still cheaper than growers would like to see them relative to crossbred prices. The bulk of the crossbred fleece of reasonable style yesterday was worth more than 50d. Merino of comparable quality was worth not much more than lOd more, a gap a good deal narrower than finewool producers have been accustomed to over the years. The narrower gap has become a feature of sales in the last few years, and many observers believe that there may not again be a premium of the proportions of earlier days. There is for one thing not now the same demand for quality by manufacturers regardless of price; and for another, technical advances, while not spectacular, allow manufacturers to turn out excellent goods using a greater proportion of cheaper wools than they could have in the past. Most of the very small number of passings at yesterday’s sale were of Merinos. Many of them were at prices which buyers insist are at full world parity and at times certainly above Australian prices. After one lot had been passed yesterday, a buyer summed up the feeling of the bench when he exclaimed, “They just don’t know Merino prices.” Representative Selection

Wool is forward for this sale from every growing district in the northern half of the South Island, and from the Chatham Islands. It is a very representative selection, and includes high country clips and fattening farm clips, and all sorts in between. Much of the stylish fine Corriedale and halfbred ewe wool usually seen at the Christchurch February sale is included, but the quatity is probably rather less than usual This is not surprising, as somewhere about 68,000 bales have already been offered in Christchurch this season, compared with possibly 30,000 in the days when only one main sale and a crutchings sale were held before Christmas. The wool is a very useful selection. After the prolonged dry weather in most districts it carries a little dust, and there is some little colour throughout the offering. Some wools from the droughty districts are a little tender, but as a whole the offering is of good average style with a lot that is better than average. Demand came from all quarters. On the finer wools, the Continent was as usual, the principal buying point, but there was rather more competition than usual from Bradford for some of the finer wools. The local mills bought freely where wool of their style came up. Bradford was specially active on the crossbreds and threequarterbreds, but there was useful competition also from the Continent. Merinos were fully up to December lavels. Extra fine halfbreds above 58’s were bought steadily at from par to Id higher than in December. Fine halfbreds from 54’s to 58’s were fully •d dearer for the best, and secondary descriptions were even dearer in many isec. A feature of the sale was the excellent demand for these descriptions where they were reasonably •eund and rasonably high in yield. Much of the halfbred and Corriedale wool, which forms so big a part of any Christchurch offering, was making 62d Crossbreds of every description sold Jery well indeed. These wools were fully firm on the last Wellington sale, which was in turn at least 3d above tile December sale here. Oddments •old steadily and well. It was a solid sale. There was nothing spectacular about it, but the tone seemed to indicate that there is Plenty of confidence in the market. Growers’ returns will be very satisfactory, specially the returns earned by the crossbred man. The Top Prices Top price of 74%d was secured for four hales of Corriedale ewe from R. Parsons (Springbank). Second price among the Corriedales was 72%d for four bales of •we from the Lynmoor clip of C. P. Wright (Methven). The top classing of 15 halea of ewe from the Leefield clip of P- P. L. Dillon (Blenheim) made 69 3 ,4 d. A notable sale was that of 24 bales of ewe from H. L. Chisnail and Son (Hinds) Which made 69 *id. Second price for the day and top halfbred price was 74d, paid for a binned lot of three bales of hogget in the Loan and Mercantile catalogue, and next halfbred price was 73’id for a binned lot of twc bales in Pyne, Gould, Guinness’s catalogue. There were several lots at 72 : ,ia. They were:—4 bales of flee.ce from S. A. park (Rowley Mile, Greta), who also sold 6 bales at 69d; four bales of hogget from A- T. Allan (Westerwood, Waikari), who *l*o sold eight bales of fleece at 70d; •even bales of ewe from the estate of H. H. Hood (Rakaia), seven bales of hogget from among Pyne’s binned lots, and four bales of fleece from the Loan and Mercantile binned lots. For six bales of ewe, G. H. Lamb (Valetta) received 72’Ad, and 72d was paid for 11 bales of ewe from Mrs E. M. Murdoch and Son (Mayfield), for seven bales of hogget from among £yne’s bins, and five bales of fleece from the National Mortgage bins. Top Merino price was 73d. which was P*id for five bales of fleece from the Branch clip of J. B. Fowler (Blenheim), also sold four bales of hogget at TOlad, and five bales of fleece at 68d. Next Merino prices were 72d for five bales of fleece from among Pyne’s bins, and 70d for two bales of fleece from the National Mortgage bins. Among the Merino passfa? was one lot at 77* id. The catalogue and order of sale for Wednesday are:— Bales H. Matson and Company .. 4,809 Ilalgety and Company Ltd. .. 9,719 N.Z. Farmers’ Co-op. Assn. Ltd. 7,765 22,293 Monday’s offering •• .. 23,324 T0ta145,617 European Feather-weight Title.—The boxing promoter, Jack Solomons, announced last night that he had signed §®v Famechon, of France, and Billy •Keuy, the British and Empire champion, to fight for Famechon’s European feather-weight title. The contest is ■ expected to take place in Dublin on March 27.—London, February 13. |

OFFICIAL REPORT

, The official report issued bv the Christchurch Woolbrokers’ Association, in conSwiwA With i the New Zealand WoolWo y o” 6 CoA S Si°n n “ d NeW ZealaDd ® rst , section ol the Christchurch S r^L e was beld yesterday at the totaWne ry mSi tr h Y' ben three cataloBuea . Totalling 23,324 bales, were submitted. SM3 re Sti? mg -u h^ e catal °Bues, totalling bales, will be offered on Wednes-

The wools were mainly drawn from Coast rb wHh’ and the West „° a j’-_ witb a fair quantity of Romney from the Chatham Islands. Although w s igbt 2,1 wool has already been Christchurch this season, ‘deluding most of the early shorn clips, ! be et ondltl ° n of the offering was well up w er l ta ? dar 2' and man V attractive lines especially among the finer 3P a^2- es ‘ Owmg to the exceptional dry rul £ g ever since las t winter, „ the offering was carrying a certain amount of dust, but it was aeain noticeable that dry yolk stain was much less pronounced than has been the case Sm- i past ’ The condition of ♦ the back country clips was less at A f f- tory> and a good deal of discoloration and some tenderness was apmany lines - Apart from these me offering was an excellent one, being ly +V? Und a P d grown and wit h ttla se X d - The condition was a little heavier than at the earlier sales. There was a full bench of buyers and °£ enad with good com♦S ont l£ en l al bu y ers dominated the market for the finer qualities with the H^fL™l 11S r. COmpetinE wei l for super lots. £ ra t d l ord buyers were mainly interested I ? ediurn and coarse lots, for which S On i was ve J y keen and general, fY.n le o£ P lece wools sold at tore The only ..disappointing feaf“ r ?, was the comparative lack of interest in Merino wools, and though pieces were not appreciably lower than in Decem- ?' al “ es ’ e s P ec fally for the best lines, appeared cheap compared with the stronger wools. According to latest reports, however prices ruling today in the local markets for Merino wools are fully up to, if not better than, those obtaining in overseas markets. „„ Va ' ues for . c^?,“,^ reds were lu »y firm on the recent Wellington sale. As comWlt ? ,J£ e .Ghristchurch December **!•> fine halfbreds and Corriedales were about 2d higher, and all qualities below 58 s appreciated by a full 3d per lb. Exccpt for odd lots of Merino, there was tion Ct^Ca^y a comp^ete clearance at auc-

The following is the official ranee ot prices Merino. 60/64’s— Extra super Super .. e , 70 to to 774 73 Good to super .. .. 66 to 69 Good .. .. 62 to 65 Average to good .. 58 61 Average .. .. ,. 54 tn 57 Inferior .. .. Southdown, 58/60’s— 462 to 53 Good to super .. ,, 57 to 602 Average to good .. 53 to 56 Inferior 46 to 50 Extra Fine Halfbred and Corriedale, 58’s and 58/60’s— Super 721 to 741 Good to super 67 to 72 Good 64 to 66 Average to good .. 61 to 63 Average 59 to 62 Inferior 54 J to 58 Fine Halfbred and Corriedale, Super 711 to 722 Good to super 671 to 71 Good 63 to 67 Average to good .. 60 to 62 average 55 to 59 Inferior 52 to 54 Medium Halfbred and Corriedale, 56’s— Good to super .. 65 to 681 Good 60 to 64 Average to good .. 571 to 591 Average 53 to 57 Halfbred and Corriedale, 50/56’s— Good to super 61 to 631 Good 57 to 60 Average to good .. 54 to 561 Average 52 to 531 Extra Fine Crossbred, 50/56’s, 52/34 s— Good to super 59 to 62 Good 55 to 58 Average to good .. 521 to 54 Average 50 to 52 Inferior 48 to 491 Fine Crossbred. 50’s, 48/50’s — Good to super 55 to 58 Good 52 to 541 Average to good .. 501 to 511 Average 481 to 50 Medium Crossbred, 46/50’s— Good to super 531 to 541 Good y. 511 to 53 Average to good .. 50 to 51 Average .. .. .. 48 to 491 Inferior 43 to 47 Strong Crossbred, 44/43’s — Good to super 521 to 54 Good 501 to 52 Average to good .. 49 to 50 Average 47 to 48 Extra Fine Halfbred Hogget and Corriedale, 58’s and 58/60’s— Super 721 to 74 Good to super 69 to 72 Good 64 to 68 --verage to good .. 60 to 63 Average 57 to 59 Fine Hogget Halfbred and Corriedale, 56/58’s— Good to super 66 to 70 Good 62 to 651 Average to good ■. 59 to 61 Average .. ... 55 to 58 Medium Hogget Halfbred and Corriedale, 56’s— Good to super 64 to 69 Good 601 to 631 Average to good .. 58 to 60 Average 53 to 57 Halfbred and Corriedale Hogget, 50/56’s— Good to super 601 to 643 Good 57 to 60 Average to good .. 54 to 56 Average 52 to 531 Fine Three-quarterbred Hogget, 50/54’s— Good to super 59 to 61< Good 56 to 58 Average to good .. 53 to 55 Average 50 to 52 Three-quarterbred Hogget, 48/50*8, 50’8— Good to super 58 to 60 Good .. ■. . • 55 to 57 Average to good .. 53 to 54 Average 491 to 52 Necks Merino, 6V64’s— Good to super 59 to 61J Average 53 to 58 Fine Halfbred, 56/58’s, 58’s— Good to supdr 58 to 62 Average 54 to 57 Inferior 50 to 53 Halfbred, 50/6, 56’s— Good to super 551 to 59 Average 53 to 55 Inferior .. .. 48 to 51 Three-quarterbred, 50’s— Good to super 52 to 54 Average 48 to 51 Inferior .. •. 44 to 47 Pieces Merino, 60/64’s— Good to super 54 to 561 Average 50 to 53 Inferior 44 to 48 Fine Halfbred, 56/58, 58's— Good to super 56 to 58 Average 52 to 55 Inferior 44 to 49 Halfbred. 50/6. 56’s— Good to super 53 to 55 Average 49 to 52 Inferior 43 to 46 Three-quarterbred, 50’s, 46/50’s Good to super to 49 Average 43 to 46 Inferior .. •• 36 to 40 Bellies Merino, 60/64’s— Good to super 47 to 481 Average .. ... Fine-Halfbred, 56/58’s, 58’s— 43 to 46 Good to super £4 to gi Average •* •• 45 to 47

d. d. Inferior 40 to 44 Halfbred, 50/56’s— Good to super 454 to 47 Average 43 to 45 Inferior 39 to 42 Three-quarterbred, 50’s, 46/50’ Good to super 42J to 44J Average 40 to 42 Inferior 36 to 39 Crutchlngs Halfbred. 50/58’s— Good to super 40 to 42 Average 37 to 39 Inferior 29 to 36 Three-quarterbred, 50’s, 46/50’ Good to super 42 to 441 Average 38 to 41 Inferior 35 to 37 Crossbred, 44/48’s— Good to super .. .. 44 to 50 Average 40 to 43 Halfbred Lambs, 50/58’s— Good to super 49 to 53J Average 4b to 48 Three-quarterbred Lambs 50’s, 48/50’s— Good to super 50 to 532 Average 48 to 49} Locks Merino 26 to 29? Half bred 24 to 32 Three-quarterbred .. 25 to 31}