SALES OUTSIDE AUCTION

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33004, 25 August 1972, Page 6

SALES OUTSIDE AUCTION

The Wool Commission has recently sold some of its stock wools outside the auction system. Reporting to the electoral committee of the Wool Board this week the chairman of the commission, Mr E. L. Greensmith, said that because there was a full supply of new wool for auction in the early months of this year, 3367 bales of fine wool purchased earlier in the season had been sold by tender in February and March. The results of these sales had compared favourably with those obtained at auction. Elaborating on this, the commission’s chief appraiser, Mr A. _W. Patterson, said that it had been possible to cut the costs of handling these wools by delivering direct from stores. The prices received were about on a par with the auction market and with the savings in handling the return was on a par to slightly above net receipts at auction. Mr Greensmith, in replying to a question, agreed that under certain circumstances, such as when there was a strong demand at auction, there was no trouble to sell by tender. In his report Mr Greensmith also said that, as well, a substantial scouring programme, aimed at producing large lines of blends likely to be sought after by the trade, had been initiated in the last quarter of the season. To date about 24,000 bales had been processed.

Some of this wool had been sold at auction but 11,060 bales had been sold through scoured wool exchanges up to the end of June.

A s some of the scouring had yet to be completed Mr Greensmith said that final results could _ not be calculated, but it was evident that it had been a profitable experiment.

In response to an inquiry about the nature of scoured wool exchanges, Mr Patterson said initially they had been set up by two organisations in Christchurch and Auckland. These people operated on a commission basis selling scoured wool that was not normally put through auction. The operator of the Auckland exchange, who also had a scouring business, would sell for a grower or client without any commission, and in this case Mr Patterson said they had been able to sell only for the cost of the scouring. Lately still another such exchange had been set up at Auckland.