U.S. WOOL MARKET

Press, Volume C, Issue 29553, 30 June 1961, Page 14

U.S. WOOL MARKET

N.Z. Share Increases On first-quarter returns. New Zealand may in 1961 edge out the Argentine as| the principal supplier of car-! pet wools to the United! States, according to reports i received by the New Zealand: Wool Board New Zealand's share of total imports increased from I 18 per cent, of the 1960 first! quarter to 23 per cent, in the; corresponding pericd this! year, says the board's Infor-i mation service. The Argentine slipped from! 36 per cent, to 33. In the calendar year i 960? New Zealand achieved equal! status with the Argentine and; it is now likely to improve on this. There was a 7 per cent, decline in United States total carpet wool imports in t-he 1961 quarter, from 43 5m lb to 40.5 m lb. New Zealand', -hare rose 16 per cent., from, 8m 1b to 9.2. while the 1 Argentine’s declined 15 per : cent., from 15.5 m lb to 13.2 New Zealand continues to, take the lion’s share of the finer carpet wools grade 40’s to 46's (American count) which have been admitted duty-free sree 1958 Nearly Doubled Though imports in this category nearly doubled over the first quarter last. year, the Dominion continued to supply close to 80 per cent, of the total. The figures for New Zealand were 3.3 m lb for the first quarter 1961, compared with I.Bm lb for the cor- ' responding period 1960, an in-

crease of 78 per cent.) I lor apparel wools. New ; Zealand's achievement was : not as great. First quarter 'imports declined 38 per cent, from 3.8 m lb to 2.4 m With the bulk of South American exportable supplies having been sold, the United States demerd for apparel wools is likely to shift to Australia. New Zealand and ; South Africa for the j remainder of the season. On his return from the recent meeting of the International Witol Secretariat Board in Melbouiiic, the chairman of the New Zealand Wool .Board (Mr J. Acland) ' said that it had been decided to take urgent action to hold the place of. wool in the American earpet industry.