WOOL VALUES TEND LOWER

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29130, 16 February 1960, Page 20

WOOL VALUES TEND LOWER

Demand Remains Strong At Christchurch Sale

Values for fine and coarse wools were lower when the fourth Christchurch wool sale began at the Repertory Theatre yesterday, but a satisfactory aspect of the sale was the ready demand that existed for almost the whole entry at prices which should be satisfactory for growers.

Half bred vools were quoted from 2} to 5 per per cent, cheaper on closing rates in the South Island in December, with the finer categories showing the most marked decline. Crossbred wools were from a shade easier to Id or slightly more lower than at the Wellington sale at the beginning of the month, with again the finer sorts suffering most.

Early estimates place the average return on the wool sold yesterday at 45d to 46d per lb, which is at least 7jd per lb better than the average for 55,072 bales sold in February last year. At 45d to 46d the average return on a 3201 b bale would be from £6O to £6l 6s 8d a bale compared with £52 6s 6d at this time last year. At the last sale in Christchurch in December the over-all average was better than 46d a lb and the average return from a bale was £62 Ils Bd. A feature of the sale yesterday was the speed with which the first day offering of 24,184 bales was quitted. The sale was over after only four and a quarter hours’ selling with a steady selling rate of almost six and a half lots a minute. Passings were light and invariably lines not sold were passed to the trade. By contrast with last February when it had passed to its floor price bid 4852 bales or 17J per cent, of the offering on the first day of the sale the Wool Commission had a day of virtual silence. Its representatives bid the floor price on 31 occasions on mainly ordinary style Merino, but no wool was passed to them. Keen Inquiry Over 2587 bales offered in the early stages of the sale passings amounted to only 2J per cent. A little later the proportion of passings tended to rise slightly but When about the middle of th< morning large offerings of binned halfbred and crossbred came before buyers the wool was taken up like hot cakes with hundreds of bales finding a market in t space of a few minutes. During this session 39 lots each of 50 bales of halfbred wool sole at prices from 43d to 54d and 32 lots of 50 bales of crossbred woo' was absorbed at between 40d anti 50d. The speed with which this wool was taken up gave the impression that the demand was still strong although prices were tending lower. Halfbred and Corriedale wool: made up a substantial proportion of the offering and with the bulk of this wool selling in the 46c to 54d range values were stil 6d to 8d better than a year ago Corriedale wool sold yesterday ui to 61 d compared with 66d at the December sale and halfbred t< 59d against 63Jd at the last Christ-

- church sale, but in February last . year the best prices these wools could make on the first day of the two-day sale were 521 d and 1 55£d respectively. 1 There was a relatively light 5 weight of Merino but the market 3 for it was again weak with values 1 tending downwards. Average to 2 good style wool sold at about 44d t to 51d with a few top lots ranging 3 from 54d to 60d. e Crossbred Sale e In the main crossbred wools s sold between 46d and 49d with comparatively little wool exceedy ing the 50d mark. However, e values were still well ahead of s the levels of a year ago—about r9d to lOd lb better. Top crossr bred price was 54d against 56d g last December and 45d a year s ago. it Top price for the day over all e sections was 62id paid for eight bales of binned Southdown wool, y. Once again there was a ready r sale for oddments. Average to r good halfbred necks brought ■t from 40d to 49d, average good _ halfbred and Corriedale pieces I from 38d to 46d, crossbred pieces j of similar quality 36d to 43d, halfbred bellies 35d to 40d, cross- . bred bellies 34d to 38d, halfbred crqtchings 33d to 38d and crossbred crutchings 34d to 40d. For a light weight of lambs e wool the best of the halfbred ;s brought from 40d to 47d with \ average at 35d to 39d and the :- pick of the coarser lambs made it from 43d to 48d with average at ie 36d to 41 d. d There was a full bench ot >. buyers with Continental interests n again providing the main competi[s tion, but on the better finer wools a Japan and local mills were also in the market. h The offering for the sale d totalled 24,184 bales in 1623 lots. 12 Further offerings out of the big 31 entry of 62,428 bales will be made (j tomorrow and on Friday. Wool is for this auction is drawn from “ all parts of Canterbury and also ii Nelson and Marlborough, the ■ West Coast and the Chatham Islands. Halfbreds and Corrie- . dale wools off the Canterbury 1S hills are well represented in the !’ selection with some wools whicn * are well grown and of good ' i length and a fair weight of averu age to good style wools. By comparison the coarser wools do P not seem to have come through ie the season, which has included a period of drought, so well. A general characteristic of the wool x is that. it is heavier in condition and often carrying some dirt.

Top Prices Top price of 60d in the Merino section was paid to the estate of James Stevenson, Flaxton, for six bales, and two other lots from the same vendor made 58d for six, and 54 3 4 d for four. Binned lots offered by Dalgety and Company sold at 58jd for :wo bales, and 54d for 15 bales, and the National Mortgage and Agency and H. Matson and Company sold three bales at 57 3 jd and two at 56d. J. B. Ensor, Blenheim, sold eight bales at 55d, 10 at 53%d, and four at 52jd. G. D. Fowler, Blenheim, realised 54jd for five bales. Corrledale wool sold up to 61d for 10 bales from R. J. Anderson, Ethelton, and the Ballindailoch Estate, Culverden, gained 60\id for four. A. J. and J. F. G. Blakely, Waikari. sold eight bales at 58d, and 14 at 56d; C. G. Harper and Son, Hackthorne, sold 12 bales at 57jd; E. S. Sloss. Waipara, sold 12 at 57V 2 d and 10 at 56Jd; and E. A. Black, Culverden, sold five at 56‘/2d. The top price of 59d for halfbred wools was gamed by A. T. Allan, Waikari, for six bales, and a second lot of six bales from the same vendor made 574jd. J. H. Harris, Rakahuri, sold four at 58d, and the same price was gained by Dalgety and Company, Ltd., for a binned lot of 29 bales A further binned lot of five bales from the National Mort-

gage and Agency and H. Matson and Company made 58',id, and A. Hammond, Blenheim, sold eight bales at 57%d. Three-quarterbred wool sales were topped by J. H. Harris, Rakahuri, with six bales at 58jd, and a binned lot of four from the National Mortgage and Agency Company, Ltd., and H. Matson and Company fetched 564 id. G. M. Robertson, Anama, sold seven at 55d and 13 at 53d, and A. C. Hassell, Hawarden, gained 54jd for seven. Crossbred Prices Dalgety and Company Ltd., topped the crossbred sales with a binned lot of two bales at 54d. Other good sales made by the same firm included two lots of four and 19 at 52>/ 2 d, three bales at 51 lid, two lots of eight and six at 51d, two lots of six and 27 at 50 3 ,jd. and 30 bales at 50jd. Binned lots from the National Mortgage and Agency Company, Ltd., ana H. Matson and Company made 52d for four bales, 51%d for four, 51‘,'zd for six, 51d for two lots of four, and 50jd for four. W. J. Monk, Kowhiterangi, gained 51d for seven bales, and the estate E. H. Rands, Springbank, sold 10 at 50d. Romney wools made to 51 jd. which i was paid for seven bales from Moore Bros., Ashburton, and O’Malley Bros., Ikamatua, sold seven at 50d. The top price of 62>/ 2 d for Southdown wools was paid for a binned lot of eight bales offered by the National Mortgage and Agency Company, Ltd., and H. Matson and Company, and the same vendor sold two at 541 d. A binned lot? from Dalgety and Company, Ltd., made 533 d for nine bales. Lambs’ Wool Up to 48jd was paid for lambs’ wool. This was gained by O. R. Chamberlain, Leeston, with seven bales of Romney, and by the New Zealand Farmers' Co-operative Association for a grouped lot of nine. The same firm sold a grouped lot of ; 22 bales at 47jd, both sales being of three-quarterbred wool. Sales at 47>,id were made by J. R. WUson, Hanmer Springs, with seven bales of Romney, and by Waimairi Farm, , Horrelvilie, with six of Romney. A , binned lot Of four bales of cross- ‘ bred offered by the National Mortgage and Agency Company, Ltd., ’ and H. Matson and Company fetched > 47d, and J. F. Le Llevre, Akaroa, I gained 463 d for six bales of threequarterbred. Details of catalogues in order of ■ sale are:—

New Zealand Farmers' Cooperative Association of Canterbury, Ltd. .. 3,835 National Mortgage and Agency and H. Matson and Company .. .. .. 9,579 Dalgety and Company. Ltd. .. 8,507 New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Ltd. 2.263 Total .. .. 24,184