Final Christchurch Wool Sale This Week

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30734, 26 April 1965, Page 8

Final Christchurch Wool Sale This Week

The eighth and final sale of the 1964-65 Christchurch wool selling season will be held on Friday. It will be a bigger sale than originally envisaged when the roster of sales was prepared.

It was initially set down for an offering of 22,000 bales but the four catalogues are likely to total about 24,550 bales. Some part of this extra quantity is due to passings from earlier sales and wools held over for this sale against the possibility of a firming in the market.

Right through the season wool trade representatives have been talking about the clip being quite markedly down on last season-r-of sheep clipping half a pound and occasionally even more than a pound weight below last season, which was not a good one either. There were at the same time reports of growers clipping more than last season from their sheep, but these were regarded as being exceptional. Lately, however, it has become apparent that earlier reports may have been unduly pessimistic if the whole clip coming into Christchurch was taken into account, and at the week-end one local wool trade representative commented that the over-all quantity of wool sold through the centre might be similar to last season, although the actual clip a head o' sheep would be down—the over-all

similarity with last season being due to the extra numbers of sheep shorn. Could Be Higher

An examination of the figures for wool sold at Christchurch in the seven sales so far held this season and the weight which is likely to be sold next Friday would tend to bear out this opinion. If all of this week’s offering finds a buyer the total weight of wool sold this season in Christchurch would be more than Im lb greater than last season or between one and two per cent up. This is basing the weight for this week’s sale on about the average weight of bales in the last sale last year. If, however, only about 90 per cent of this week’s offering changes hands the weight of wool sold through the Christchurch centre this season will be very similar to last season.

This will be the more surprising in that brokers’ representatives said at the weekend that there seemed to be less second-shear and lambs’ wool in for this week’s sale than was the case with the final sale last year. This can be accounted for by the more modest prices ruling at present. Last season growers were keen to catch the good prices and were after every bit of wool they could. Hence the boost given to lamb and second shearing. With more modest prices shearing costs

tend to mak farmers less keen to shear more than once, and good schedule prices ruling for lambs have also no doubt caused many farmers to quit their lambs without considering shearing them. Although in the final analysis the total amount of wool sold through the Christchurch centre may be similar to last year, the past year has not been a good one for wool growing and brokers’ representatives said at the weekend that wools were still showing the effects of last year’s year-long drought. One spokesman said that in general the offering, which is a typical end-of-season one, would not be quite up to par but still remarkably good considering the difficult season.

There are actually one or two better clips than usual in for this sale due to either passings at earlier sales or wool being held over, but in the main fleece wools are of only average standard and are described as showing light dust, discoloration, a touch of seed and being tender. A Feature The feature of the market is some of the lambs’ and second-shear wools. One wool firm spokesman considers that they are as good as they have ever seen. He said that wool from lambs shorn since the recent rains began were of better colour and more showy. Confirming the view that some very good lines of lambs’ and second-shear wools were included in the offering for next Friday, another broker’s representative said that these were well picked but some farmers were still not taking the trouble to pick these wools properly. Wools for this sale are drawn from widely scattered sources. There are wools from the West Coast and Chathams and from the high country, the lower hills and the plains and from Marlborough. One spokesman said that the high country clips had come through the season not badly, but another commented that the later shorn clips in for this sale were showing dust, condition and colour.

The West Coast wools are reflecting the very wet season experienced in that part of the country and are not up to the usual standard. This is showing up in soft cots and discolouration, with the lambs’ and second-shear wools not affected to the same extent as full length fleece. Oddments, too, are of average standard, also showing dust, discolouration and condition.

If the relatively low level of prices recorded at the last sale in Christchurch last month—a 38Jd per lb average —is maintained at this week’s sale and all of the offering is sold the total proceeds for the season at Christchurch auctions will come to just short of £10.3m or about £2.9m short of last season—a drop of about 22 per cent. However, the market has lately been showing a slightly better note, but there are still uncertain factors looming in the background such as the holdings of wool in South America and the effect of the devaluation of the Argentine peso. As yet, brokers have not completed their catalogues for this week’s sale, but the total offering,' on estimates given at the week-end, should come to about 24,550 bales. The order of sale is as follows: Pyne, Gould, Guinness Ltd., National Mortgage and Agency Company, Ltd., New Zealand Farmers’ Co-opera-tive Association, and Dalgety and New Zealand Loan, Ltd. A feature of the season just ending has been the introduction of monthly sales. Brokers’ representatives questioned about this development said that it underlined the need for adequate show floor space as they had to be preparing for about two sales at the same time. They indicated that they would also find a shorter prompt date useful in enabling them to clear wool from their stores sooner after a sale.