FINAL WOOL SALE IN CHRISTCHURCH

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28263, 29 April 1957, Page 11

FINAL WOOL SALE IN CHRISTCHURCH

General Advance In Buoyant Market

There was a further advance in values (Merinos excepted) at the fourth and final Christchurch wool sale of the lSab-57 season, which was held on Saturday in the Repertory Theatre. It was by far the most buoyant sale in New Zealand since the 1950-51 boom season, when wool rose to very high prices only to suffer a sudden and severe setback before winter set in.

Saturday's sale was a particularly steady one. With very little fleece wool selling at under 58d per lb the general average of values, except for Merinos, was fully 4d up on the Christchurch February sale and 5 to 6 per cent in advance of prices at the’ recent Wellington sale. An excellent clearance, too was effected at the auction.

With a total of 30,238 bales in 1672 lots split into six catalogues, the sale was the second largest lingle-day auction of the season and -wsfs more than 2000 bales ahead of the offering at the final bale of last season. Passings were negligible, probably not amounting to more than 20 lots over the whole day's selling. Top price of the day was 883 d paid for 10 bales of halfbred. Incidentally, halfbred sold up to only 61}d at the Christchurch sale held 12 months ago. Top prices realised for other classes of wool on Saturday included the following: Merino 82|d, Corriedale 85}d, three-quarterbred 75d, extra fine crossbred 75jd, Southdown 75d, and lambs 68|d. The pick of the pieces and oddments sold at extraordinarily high figures, with halfbred necks reaching 79J d and halfbred pieces 70d. Mark of Wet Season Wools from Blenheim to Ashburton. the West Coast, and the Chathams made up the catalogues. Throughout the offering there was evidence of yellow yolk, a mark of the comparatively wet season experienced. Fewer choice lines of halfbreds and Corriedales were to hand compared with the earlier sales, but there was a sprinkling of high quality wool available which led to keen competition. It was a typical end-of-the-season offering, with an excellent selection of Romney wool from the Chathams. The sale started on a very buoyant note which was maintained throughout the day. Within a few minutes of opening, halfbred fleece had been sold up to 84d per lb, and halfbred pieces to 76|d. These prices were subsequentlybettered. The market opened with fine wools up to 2s per lb better than values realised at the final sale of last season, which was topped at 65Jd by an offering of Southdown wool. Generally it was a steady sale throughout the day, with occasional bursts of spirited bidding when Continental interests appeared to clash. Bradford interests were quiet and local mills did not appear to be very active. Continental buyers took the bulk of the offering, but the destination of their purchases will naturally not be known until the wool comes to be shipped. The sale of the main lots finished at 7.30 p.m. on a very firm note, with wool apparently still in very short supply. At this stage in the year New Zealand supplies are, in the opinion of the trade, being relied upon to an appreciable extent by overseas manufacturers. Japan’s acquisitions of fully 1,000,000 bales of the Australian clip has tended perhaps to aggravate the world supply position. A feature of the sale was that, with one exception, all descriptions of wool, with emphasis on crossbreds, shared in the general marked advance in prices. Merino values, alone, did not respond freely to the general buoyancy of the market. Average-to-good Merinos were firm on February rates, but shabbier sorts were slightly cheaper. A point of interest was the size of the offering on behalf of the Murchison family whose properties lie adjacent to Lake Coleridge. The Murchison brothers sent forward just on 500 bales of Merino and halfbred and, with the entry of the estate of Janet Murchison, of Glenthorne, the family contribution reached about 640 bales. High Prices Top price of the day was 88fd paid for 10 bales of halfbred wool from A. T. and T. D. Allan (Waikari) who also sold two bales at 85d. two at 84d, nine at 82|d, four at 81 id, and 11 at 80|d. For eight bales the estate of H. H. Hood (Mount Somers) received 86 id and another four bales from the same source reached 83|d. A

seven-bale binned entry of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile fetched 85d and five bales brought forward by the New Zealand Farmers’ Co-operative Association reached 84? d. For 13 bales W. A. B. Reed (Oxford) was paid 84d and the same price went to J. D. and T. R. Henshaw (Culverden) for seven bales and the National Mortgage and Agency Company for three bales. G. H. Lamb (Ashburton) also sold seven bales at 83£d. Binned wool from Dalgety and Company’s catalogue also brought this price and 83|d was paid for eight bales from T. W. Johnstone (Mount Somers), and four bales from A. Orchard (Ashburton). In the Corriedale section H. W. Branch and Son (Ashburton) topped the market at 85}d for four bales. T. Corbett (Mayfield) realised 84d for seven bales. A 13 bale lot brought G. A. Ridgen (Greendale) 833 d and for six bales H. S. Richards (Valetta) received 83Jd. For four bales from F. J. Hydes (Ashburton) the price was 823 d and for six bales the estate of J. F. Langley (Rakaia) received 82Jd. Merino Up To 82}d Merino wool sold up to 82}d for three bales from the New Zealand Farmers’ Co-operative Association’s catalogue and all the top prices in this section went to wool in firms’ binned lots. For two bales Pyne, Gould, Guinness Ltd., was paid 81jd and for four bales the National Mortgage and Agency received 80d. Threequarterbred wool realised up to 75d for nine bales from A. Daymond (Chatham Islands). D. Lanauze, of the Chatham Islands, sold six bales at 74}d; F. J. Andrew (Te Pirita) had a sale of six bales at 74} d; and D. M. Bruce (Ashburton) disposed of five bales at 74d. Values for Crossbreds The highest price of the day in the crossbred section was 752 d, which went to A. C. H. Weavers (Oxford), for five bales. The Wiesner Estate (Chatham Islands) was next with seven bales at 73|d. Binned wool from Dalgety and Company’s catalogue fetched 73}d for 28 bales and other good sales were made by J. J. Richardson (Ashburton), who sold five bales at 71Jd, the Chudleigh Estate (Chatham Islands), with 15 bales at 71}d, Marshall and Smith (Chatham Islands), with 13 bales at 703 d, the Mental Hospital, Nelson, with four bales at 70Jd, the estate T. Solomon (Chatham Islands) with nine bales at 70£d, and Mrs E. M. Gray (Hororata), with 13 bales at 70d. In the Southdown section two bales of binned wool offered by the New Zealand Farmers’ Cooperative Association realised 75d and J. T. and W. I. Croy (Oxford) sold six bales at 74d. Five bales of Down cross binned wool, also offered by the Farmers’, brought 78d. Lambs’ wool sold up to 68} d for 13 bales of binned wool offered by Pyne, Gould, Guinness Ltd. Seven bales from H. Matson and Company’s binned selection reached 67}d and D. D. Wilson (Ashburton) sold four bales at 67d. Details of catalogues in order of sale were as follows: — Bales H. Matson and Co. .. 2741 National Mortgage and Agency Co. Ltd. .. 4595 N.Z. Loan and Mercantile Agency Co., Ltd. .. 2560 Pyne, Gould, Guinness Ltd. .. • • 8034 N.Z. Farmers’ Co-op. Assn., Ltd. X. 4213 Dalgety and Co., Ltd. .. 8095 Total 30.238