Some Fine Wool Values Down; Merino Firm

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32114, 9 October 1969, Page 7

Some Fine Wool Values Down; Merino Firm

Some of the finer quality wools had an erratic market at the second sale of the 1969-1970 season at the Wool Exchange, Addington, yesterday. There were falls of 2c to 3c per lb and wools in the 50s to 56s category were most affected.

The four catalogues, involving more than 26,000 bales, included a wide selection of wools, the bulk of it pre-lamb shorn halfbred and crossbred fleece. Hogget wools were also in plentiful supply.

The hill country wools were up to standard, but the paddock dips were not as good as those usually seen at an October sale. Much of these wools carried more dust and condition than usual.

A useful selection of Merino wools, a number from Marlborough, were well up to standard and these were fully firm on the last Christchurch sale. Some of them were fractionally stronger. But for medium and fine halfbreds the market was easier—and erratic. Some of the bill wools looked firm, but the paddock wools were back by 2c per lb. Strong halfbred showed the same trend, with a decline of as much as 3c.

From early in the sale, it was evident that wools in the 50s to 56s category were the most affected. One feature of the sale was the good demand for certain classes of oddments. Crutchings, in particular, met a ready inquiry. Buying power was well

spread. Continental interests were active, supported by Eastern Europe, and there was some interest from Japan. Local mills were also active throughout the day, mainly for the finer wools.

The sale catalogue included almost 6000 bales of Wool Commission stockpile. It met a steady sale, fewer than a dozen lots being passed back to the commission. Price Ranges In the new season’s catalogues, Merino fleece ranged mainly from about 50c to 57c, with odd sales to 61c: Corriedale fleece sold regularly in the 35c to 40c range, and medium to fine halfbreds ranged mainly from 32c to 40c, with plainer down to 24c. Strong halfbred fleece covered a wide range of values, the best of it making little short of 40c, but values were generally from 30c to 34c, with plain down to 22c. Medium and fine crossbred ranged from 27c to 33c. with some of the better quality lots to 38c. Stronger crossbred ranged from 24c to 28c, with odd sales to a little more than 30c.

Of the oddments, crossbred crutchings sold from 20c to 25c and fine-wool crutchings from 21c to 25c, with some sales to 28c. Fine-wool pieces sold steadily from 30c to 36c, with some sales to 38c, and crossbreds ranged from 20c to 27c. Fine-wool necks sold from 31c to 37c, with some sales to 42.5 c, and crossbreds from about 22c to 30c. Fine-wool bellies sold from 2?c to 30c, and crossbreds from about 18c to 24c. Leading Prices The top price of the sale was Sic paid on two occasions tor Merino wool. Early in the sale. 61c was paid for two bales in the binned entry ot the New Zealand Farmers' Co-operative Association, and another three bales under the same listing fetched 60c. The wool was drawn from two growers, Mrs A. P. Bennett, of Swannanoa, and J. B. Ensor, ot Haycocks, Blenheim. C. F. Shanks and Company, of Benbopai, Blenheim, also received 61c for four bales of line Merino. J. F. Cooper, of Awatere. received 60c for four bales of super Merino and SSc tor four bales ot fine Merino. Sales at 59c were also received by T. H. Ensor, of Cheviot, and Murchison Brothers, ot Lake Coleridge. Halfbred wool sold to 52c, this

being paid early in the sale for 21 bales of fine wool from E. W. Feary, of Oxford. A binned entry of four bales of extra fine halfbred in the catalogue of Pyne, Gould, Guinness Ltd. fetched 514 c, while the Barros Station, of Mid-Canterbury, sold four bales of extra fine halfbred at 50R and another nine of the same description at 50c. Macdonald Downs, Ltd, of Hawarden, which offered more than 200 bales of wool, received 49$ c for nine bales, five of which were hogget wool. All of the fleece wool from this vendor realised 40c or more.

D. McLeod, of Grasmere, Cass, received 48|c for 11 bales of fine halfbred, and the same price was obtained by A. E. Herbert, of Waipara, for five bales of ewe fleece.

T. H. Donaldson, of Ashburton, topped the Corriedale section with five bales, and this remained a fairly isolated price for this class of wool. T. F, Hignt, of Hororata, obtained 47jc for five bales, and the P. and K. Le Cren Trust, of Parnassus, obtained 47c for five bales of fine hogget. One of the best prices in the crossbred section was 39|c received by Menzies and Menzies, of Menzies Bay, for six bales of fine hogget. A. T. Stone, of Hororata. obtained 38|c for five bales of extra fine ewe wool

and two binned entries in the catalogue of the National Mortgage and Agency Company, and one entry in the catalogue of Pyne, Gould, Guinness Ltd, realised 38ic. A. D. McLeod, of Hororata. received 40fc for six bales of fine three-quarterbred, and he also sold another nine at 38c.

There was only a small quantity of second-shear wool and the best price for crossbred was . 37c for six bales of fine hogget from W. B. Clarkson, of Flax Hills, Kaikoura.

Details of catalogues and order of sale were:—

N.Z. Farmers’ Cooperative Association 3,989 Dalgety and New Zealand Loan, Ltd .. 9.431 National Mortgage and Agency Company . 5.595 Pyne. Gould, Guinness Ltd 7,057 Total 25,073