MERINO WOOL AT 104¼d

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28224, 12 March 1957, Page 16

MERINO WOOL AT 104¼d

Values Mainly Firm At Timaru Sale Merino wool twice sold at 104Jd at the third and concluding wool sale of the 1956-57 season at Timaru yesterday. This is by far the highest price paid for wool in New Zealand since the wool boom year of 1951. At Dunedin last week halfbred wool reached 89d, the previous highest price for the current selling season. The new record price for the season was set in the dying stages of another excellent auction for almost all qualities of wool. The Merino wool came from Mr D. M. C. Burnett’s Mount Cook station in the heart of the Mackenzie Country. As the first lot of four bales of super fine Merino ewe hogget out of a selection of 120 bales from Mount Cook station came on the market there was an excited flurry of bidding and as Mr R. T. Stephens, auctioneer for the National Mortgage and Agency Company Ltd., knocked the lot down to Murray Roberts and Co., Ltd., there was a spontaneous outburst of clapping from other buyers. A moment later another five bales of the Mount Cook Merino equalled this price. It was also super fine combing Merino ewe. For four bales of fine Merino wether hogget the price was 96d. Two more lots of seven and five bales of ewe wool sold at 93yd. and 91Jd and a four-bale selection of Merino wether realised 90d.

For the gallery of farmers and members of the public watching the sale in the Theatre Royal the prices paid for the Mount Cook wool were a reminder of the fabulous prices paid for Merino wool in the early 1950’5.

Up till the disposal of the Mount Cook wool top price for Merino yesterday was 851 d for three bales of super Merino ewe from the Braemar clip of estate of B. N. Murray and Sons. Top price for Merino at the last Timaru sale in December was 83d and at the Christchurch sale last month 85d. At Timaru a year ago Merino sold up to only 70|d. More Passings Though there were many more passings at yesterday’s sale than at recent auctions in Canterbury it was still an excellent sale with wool of most qualities fully firm on the good rates ruling at Dunedin last week. Possible exceptions from this strong note were, some of the inferior-type halfbreds and hoggets for which demand was a little slacker. Merino, too,, although it sold to record price levels, was inclined to be a little erratic at times and there were odd passings of this class of wool. For good halfbreds values were

very strong indeed. A significant section of this class of wool was sold at prices in excess of 70d and about 24 bales of the best of the selection found buyers at more than 80d. Top price of the day for halfbreds was 86Jd for Mackenzie Country wool. At the Timaru sale in March last year top value for this class of wool was 61d. Last December halfbred sold up to 76Jd. Crossbreds had another good day. They aroused some of the most spirited sessions of bidding during the day and could be quoted fully firm to perhaps a shade dearer. The tops of the crossbred wool realised from 70d to 76d with the bulk of the tremainder in sales at 58d to 67d. Oddments were keenly sought at most satisfactory prices. Finewool necks and pieces frequently reached to near 70d. There was a full bench of buyers for the sale. Continental buyers took a sizeable portion of the offering with a heavy weight destined for France. Japan was again in the market for wools suitable for her requirements, but because the supply of these was not so large she was not as im-1 portant an influence as at Christchurch last month. Bradford was again restrained and New Zealand mills were in the market occasionally. Mainly Crossbreds The offering totalled 32.434 bales, compared with 34.239 bales at the Timaru sale last March and 33,140 bales at the December auction. The wool opened up in very fair condition, though not up to the standard of the last sale. The bulk of the offering comprised medium to fine crossbreds which were mainly well-grown, sound, and fairly light in condition, but showing a certain amount of dust and yolk stain. Merino clips from the back country were well up to the usual standard, and there were some very attractive lines among them. There was an unusually large offering of lambs’ wool, which generally opened up well, being clean, well-grown, and free of seed. Some otherwise attractive lines were, however, spoilt by faulty “get-up.” Pieces and bellies in many cases were rather heavy and discoloured. Selling went along at a steady pace of about 350 lots an hour, about 7$ hours being required to dispose of the main lots.

In addition to the Merino wool of Mount Cook Station and the estate of B. N. Murray and Sens, sales at more than 80d were made by Boyle and Patterson (Oxford), who realised 82}d for four bales and 80d for eight bales, and also by the Matheson estate (Simons Pass) who sold eight bales at 81 Jd. A binned lot of three bales in the catalogues of Pyne, Gould, Guinness Ltd., made 84?,d. Halfbred Prices The buoyant halfbred market was topped by the estate of B. N. Murray and Sons with four bales of fine ewe wool selling at 864 d. Two bales of binned wool in the catalogue of the National Mort-, gage and Agency Company, Ltd., brought 84d, and 83£d was paid for binned lots in the catalogues of the Canterbury Farmers’ Cooperative Association, Ltd., and Dalgety and Company, Ltd. Eight bales out of the Glenesk clip of R. Douglas (Cheviot) earned 83] d. Einned lots offered by Wright, Stephenson and Company, Ltd., realised 82£d and 82]d and the latter price was also paid for three bales of wool offered by the National Mortgage and Agency Company, Ltd. Corriedale Prices The top price for Corriedale i wool was 81 id for six bales from D. E. Rankin (Ashburton). This grower also sent forward another eight bales which fetched 80d, and this price was also obtained for five bales by W. E. Rankin (Ashburton), who had a second sale of six bales at 77£d. The latter price was also paid for a six-bale lot offered on account of S. F. Collier (Otaio). ’ , Threequarter bred wool realised up to 76d for a 40-bale offering made by Dalgety and Company, Ltd. The same firm sold another 40 bales at 75]d. Crossbred wool sold up to 76d for a four-bale binned lot auctioned by the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Ltd., who also sold 23 bales of extra fine crossbred at 75]d, 51 bales at 75d, and 17 at 73d. F. G. Greenslade (Ashburton) obtained 74id for four bales, and A. M. Saunders (Ashburton), 74]d for five bales. G. N. Harrison* (Ashburton) also sold seven bales at 74d. In the Southdown section of the sale a three-bale bin entry of Pyne, Gould, Guinness Ltdbrought 80d, and two bales offered by Wright, Stephenson and Company, Ltd,, reached 79d. Details of firms’ offierings, in order of sale, are as follows: Bales New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Co., Ltd. 2292 Canterbury Farmers’ Cooperative Association, Ltd. 6562 Dalgety and Co., Ltd. .. 5088 (

Pyne, Gould, Guinness Ltd. 8175 Wright Stephenson and Co., Ltd. .. .. .. 2867 National Mortgage and Agency Co. of N.Z., Ltd. 7450 Total .. .. 32,434