WOOL MARKETING SEASON

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28800, 22 January 1959, Page 17

WOOL MARKETING SEASON

Values Steady To Firmer IN-Z Press Association—ComrlaM» LONDON. January 20. . Values in the second half of the Commonwealth wool marketing season showed a reassuring steadiness with an occasional firmer tendency, according to importers quoted by the International Wool Secretariat. During the week ended January 17, 250,000 bales of Commonwealth wool were sold in various centres. In Australia, three centres operating simultaneously sold an approximate 150,000 bales, two New Zealand sales at Auckland offered a total of 50,000 bales, the week's sales in South Africa produced catalogues totalling about 30.000 bales, and a further 20,000 bales of Commonwealth wool were offered in the first week of the London sales. The wool sold surprisingly well with excellent clearances from all centres, the secretariat reported. Primary Markets In primary markets, Japanese competition was little less active and French buying power had not yet fully adjusted itself to new conditions following devaluation of the franc, it said. These two factors might, have partly caused reduced pressure of demand on the finest merinos. In New Zealand, the competition of the United States for medium and lower greasy crossbreds had increased as a result of revised import arrangements under which a wider range of these wools could now be imported duty-free into the United States for carpet trade purposes, the secretariat said.