Wool Values Now Well Behind Last Season’s Levels

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30568, 10 October 1964, Page 22

Wool Values Now Well Behind Last Season’s Levels

The fall in wool prices continued when the secQnd Christchurch wool sale of the 1964-65 season was held in the Wool Exchange at Addington yesterday.

All halfbred and Corriedale fleece wools, apart from the top entries, and all crossbred fleece wools were described as being in buyers’ favour on the sharply cheaper Dunedin sale last week. The pick of the halfbred and Corriedale fleece held to about late rates.

Compared both with the last sale in this centre in August and the corresponding sale of last season’s series, values were well back. On the basis of calculations made over several thousand bales put up for sale yesterday the average for the sale is likely to be about 49d. This would .be about 6id per lb below the average of the October sale last year, and would represent a drop in values of 11 to 12 per cent.

At an average price of 49d. a 3301 b bale of wool would return almost £9 less than last vear, and the over-all return for the offering of 21,123 bales would be about £190,000 less than would have been realised had last October’s level of values been maintained. Values were also back on the most recent sale in August by 3d to 5d per lb for both halfbred and crossbred fleece.

Passings were heavier than for a long time at a Christchurch sale. In the middle of the morning, over an offering of a little more than 500 bales, passings amounted to 35 per cent. However, over most of the sale there was a better clearance, with the proportion of passings at the beginning of the day and later in the sale ranging from less than 4 per cent to 6 to 7 per cent. Some vendors appeared to have an optimistic outlook in refusing offers of up to 63}d for Merino fleece and almost 60d for halfbred fleece. Still Good

While the market yesterday certainly appeared to have lost a lot of the glamour of last year, one observer remarked that wool values were really still at very good levels, with the average likely to be better than 4s per lb. He recalled that the average for the October sale two years ago was less than 43d per lb and three years ago less than 42d per lb. The Wool Commission, which has had only a watching brief for many sales now, placed its floor-price bid six times during the day on mainly fine wool oddments. Its entry into the market had the desired effect of raising the offers of the trade, and none of these lots had to be passed to the commission.

The pick of the halfbred and Corriedale fleece still made good money with halfbred selling to 67d, which was in line with August rates in Christchurch, and Corriedale to 66d. The main weight of halfbred and Corriedale wool, however, sold between about 54d and 59d, which was 3d to 4d and in cases more behind August rates, and 6d behind the average level of values last October. Merino wool was forward only in small quantities, and apart from one or two top lines, met a fairly weak sale, with prices mainly between 50d and 60d. The top price of the day in this section was

64jd, compared with 71d a year ago. There was a new level of values taking shape for crossbred wools. Only one lot of these reached 60d, and most of the average to good to good-style wools realised 51d to 55d. This compared with 54d to 59d in August and 56d to 60d last October. Second-shear Wools

Second-shear wools were also at more modest levels, the coarser sorts making 46d to 53d and the fine wools 37d to 45d.

Oddments still appeared to sell reasonably well, though at reduced levels. Fine wool necks brought from 44d to 55d and coarser necks 43d to 50d; halfbred pieces from 41d to 51d, and three-quarter-bred pieces 42d to 48d; halfbred bellies from 39d to 45d, and three-quarterbred from 39d to 43d; and in the crutching section the fine wools sold from 31d to 40d, with threequarterbred 35d to 43d, and crossbred at 44d to 47d.

Some part of the generally weaker tone of the market could be attributed to Indifferent quality. The entry of 21,123 bales included wools of highly varying standards, depending on how individual properties have fared under the dry conditions since the beginning of the year. There were few super wools included in the selection, but there were some useful early shorn halfbred clips. A lot of the wool was carrying dust, and there was contamination with hay and straw, a carry-over from winter feeding, but most wools were relatively free from colour and stain.

The Continent was again the main buying centre, with local mills operating on the pick of the fine wools, America and Japan interested in specialty lines, and Bradford giving moderate support. The 2448 lots were disposed of at an average selling rate of 300 lots an hour. Leading Sales Top price of the day was 67d paid for four bales of medium halfbred wool out of the bins of the New Zealand Farmers’ Co-operative Association of Canterbury, Ltd. Halfbred wool also sold to 651 d for eight bales from R. E. Hiatt (Culverden) and for 14 bales from H. and M. Fitzsimmons (Greta). Apart from further sales of binned wool at 65Jd, 64d, 63Jd, 63d and 621 d, K. W. J. Hall (Hororata), sold 13 bales at 63}d, the estate I. O. Buchanan (High Peak), had six bales at 62fd and W. M. McCready (.Rakaia Gorge), 13 bales at 62id. J. F. Cracroft Wilson (Cashmere), also had six bales at 62d.

T. F. Hight (Hororata) was one of the most successful

vendors In the Corriedale section with six bales selling at 66d, nine bales at 651 d and four at 62d. J. F. G. Blakely (Waikari), also reached 66d with five bales, and 65id was received by B. J. Hall (Hororata), with eight bales. G. C. Hiatt (Cheviot), had four bales at 6Ud; J. Fitzsimmons (Cheviot), sold seven bales at 61id; H. M. A. McCormick (Mayfield), had six bales at 61d; and W. ActonAdams (Tipapa), had 11 bales at 61d.

Merino wools ranged to 64sd for six bales from A. F. S. Rutherford (Montrose). The New Zealand Farmers’ Co-opera-tive Association had five bales of binned wool at 62Jd, and 60Jd was the price received by A. G. Pitts (Awatere) for 12 bales. Westenra Brothers (Awatere), also received 59Jd for four bales and the estate C. F. Shanks (Benhopai), received 57d for seven bales.

Ten bales of quarterbred wool from R. W. Wightman (Mount Hutt), received 59jd. The top price for threequarterbred wool was 58id for 14 bales of binned wool offered by Pyne, Gould, Guinness, Ltd., and 13 bales from L. D. and D. D. Davies (Cheviot), brought 58d. Dalgety and New Zealand Loan, Ltd., sold binned threequarterbred wools at 57d, and other leading sales included five bales at 56jd from D. W. O’Callaghan (Culverden), and four bales from I. H. Atkinson (Hanmer Springs), at the same price. R. A. Thompson (Windwhistle), received 56id for six bales.

Crossbred wool reached to 601 d for five bales of hogget wool from C. G. Cholmondeley (Darfield). The National Mortgage and Agency sold binned wool at 59Jd and among other leading sales were nine bales from C. A. McGregor (Kaikoura), at 59Jd, nine bales from H. R. Hammond (Mandamus Downs), at 591 d and six bales from D. J. and M. J. Fechney (Ashburton), at 59d. Four bales of Romney hogget wool from R. W. Hobbs (Methven), realised 59}d. K. C. Ensor (Hanmer) had seven bales at 58Sd and L. A. Ferguson (Darfield) sold 14 bales at the same price. T. E. Armstrong (Akaroa) received 58Jd for six bales and H. H. Deans (Darfield) sold five bales at 58d. Among leading sales of second-shear wool were four bales of Romney wool from T. E. Armstrong (Akaroa), at 57}d and nine bales of Romney wool from D. E. Grigg (Hickory), at 56d. Jackson Brothers (Purau), also received 53fd for 10 bales of crossbred wool. The New Zealand Farmers’ Co-operative Association had three bales of binned Down cross wool at 60d and three bales at 56d. The National Mortgage and Agency sold five bales of the same type of wool at 58fd. Details of catalogues in order of sale were: National Mortgage and Agency Company of N.Z., Ltd. . 4376 New Zealand Farmers’ Co-operative Association of Canterbury, Ltd. . 2698 Pyne, Gould, Guinness Ltd. . 7533 Dalgety and N.Z. Loan, Ltd. .. 6516 21,123