“WOOL COMMISSION SHOULD SELL”

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31363, 8 May 1967, Page 14

“WOOL COMMISSION SHOULD SELL”

In the early years of the existence of the New Zealand Wool Commission, New Zealand was in a semi-monopolis-tic position. This was no longer true, for there were ample supplies of South American crossbred wool, and an increasing supply of cheap synthetic fibres, said Mr I. de Spa, managing director of the scouring firm of Defosse et

Duvivier, N.Z., Ltd., in Christchurch yesterday. Commenting on the Issues raised in recent discussions on the commission’s policies, Mr de Spa said the commission must take account of this change in basic market conditions. For instance, the commission could no longer ignore the existence of competitive products—natural or synthetic—when setting its floor price and when, disposing of its stocks. Mr de Spa said he doubted whether the commission could dispose of this season’s stocks at a profit unless it was prepared to hold them for several seasons.

“I consider the commission should be prepared to take a loss on its stocks for the sake of an earlier disposal,” he said. Any wool the commission had scoured should be offered for sale direct to the trade, rather than being put up for auction, he considered. Scoured wool of standard types could be sold by specification, he added. Wool scoured in New Zealand had won increased acceptance abroad, as was demonstrated by the increased quantities of scoured wool exported, even this year.