Most Chch wool steady

Press, 23 April 1983, Page 23

Most Chch wool steady

Wool prices held steady at the Christchurch sale yesterday, consolidating most of the recent substantial rises at Auckland and Invercargill sales. Compared with the Napier sale earlier this week, all crossbred wool descriptions were firm of generally unchanged. Crossbred prices at Napier were down only slightly on those at Auckland and Invercargill sales of the week before, where they had risen substantially from a kind of post-devaluation plateau. Prices at present are being maintained about the market indicator level of 300 c a kilogram on demand from a restricted range of buying countries, notably the Middle East, Eastern Europe and China.

In view of the limited support from Western Europe, Japan and New Zealand mills, it is evident that real demand depth from the Western world economies recovering from depression is not yet present.

As the season draws to a close, brokers are still filling forward orders from a shrinking range of wools on offer. A recent release of funds from Iran, to enable that country’s orders to be filled and shipped, is now the main buying force in the market.

If this market level can be maintained until the end of the present season, wool users in all countries will begin the next season adjusted or accustomed to these prices. That would bring real hope of another steady surge in prices when the long-heralded economic recovery materialises.

In the meantime the increases in price since devaluation have been very welcome to drought-af-fected farmers on the eastern side of New Zealand and to all taxpayers, for the reductions in supplementary payments which have resulted.

The adjusted weighted average sale price at yesterday’s sale was 295.26 c a kilogram. Based on this, a Government supplementary payment of 8.4 per cent will apply to all wool sold at the Christchurch sale and to all wool sold privately from midnight, April 21, to midnight, April 28. The market indicator was 295 c.

Compared with the Napier sale on April 21, market quotations were: medium and strong fleece wool in sellers’ favour, second-shear, irregular but generally unchanged; lambs’

wool, firm; skirtings and oddments, generally unchanged. In the large second-shear offering, shorter lines were a little dearer, medium lines somewhat easier and long ones fully firm. The over-all effect was that the slightly dearer and cheaper areas averaged out. Sources say that the crossbred prices at Christchurch were remarkably consistent on those at Napier, considering the difference in the composition of the offering. Compared with the Dunedin sale on March 30, fine wools were quoted as firm for fine and medium halfbred fleece; strong and extra strong, 2.5 to 5 per cent dearer; skirtings and oddments, firm to sellers’ favour.

Prices for fine lambs’ wool were firm for better style lines but faulty lines were not wanted by the trade and resulted in a very small buying-in activity by the Wool Board. The board bid on 1.2 per cent of the offering and bought or had passed to it 0.3 per cent.

A feature of the sale was some very high-yielding fleece wools, probably reflecting plunge-dipping by farmers. Buyers obviously were keen to pay more for wools which showed test yields above 90 per cent. But as the Wool Board indicators are always worked out on clean prices, these prices in the range 360 to 380 c for crossbred fleece types did not lift the indicators.

Also, the apparent easing of the prices of better types of Merino fleece, from better than 600 c late in 1982 to the low 500 s now, is much more a reflection of declining yields than market softening. The Wool Board offered about 2500 bales from its stockpile and this mixed bag of wools met a steady demand. The Christchurch sale was the last for the N.Z. Farmers Co-operative Association of Canterbury, Ltd, which has been active in Christchurch wool selling for more than 100 years and since the start of auctioning. The rural services division of that company, which includes the wool broking business, has been merged with Wrightson N.M.A., Ltd.

The Farmers’ wool manager, Mr Neville Roach, thanked woolbuyers and all Farmers’ clients for their support. The wool staff of Fanners will be employed by Wrightsons.

The auctioneer for Farmers, Mr Jack Ham-

mond, of C.F.C.A., Timaru, was working at his last Christchurch sale, his 110th. Leading sales included:—

Five bales of extra fine Merino woolly hogget from Erewhon station (Mount Somers) topped the sale with 577 c, followed by Mount Potts station with 564 c for three bales of extra fine Merino. Several other sales over 500 c were made by Mount Potts station, including 560 c for six bales of extra fine wool and 557 c for three bales of extra fine woolly hogget. R. J. Brown (Lake Coleridge) received 536 c for a star lot of one bale of medium Merino woolly hogget. A price of 408 c for five bales of fine woolly hogget from an undisclosed vendor easily headed the Corriedale section. Other good Corriedale prices included 358 c gained by two vendors, R. J. Anderson (Hawarden) for five bales of fine woolly hogget, and by Animal Enterprises (Ashburton) for 12 bales of shorn hogget. G. L. C. Dunster (Hawarden) sold 10 bales of fine Corriedale at 356 c and P. J. Hope (Hawarden) received 351 c for six bales of extra fine shorn hogget. O. F. Baigent (Nelson) sold four bales of shorn hogget at 387 c and D. and D. McKenzie (Waiau) sold four bales of medium Corriedale at 365 c. Four bales of extra fine Halfbred woolly hogget from the bins of Dalgety New Zealand, Ltd, sold for 464 c and nine bales of fine woolly hogget from the bins of N.Z. Farmers’ Co-op Association of Canterbury, made 411 c. The Farmers’ also sold four bales of extra fine Halfbred at 404 c. J. D. Stewart (Rangiora) received 370 c for eight bales of fine Halfbred.

A price of 459 c was paid for five bales of fine Halfbred woolly hogget from Cloudy Range station (Waiau) and Colenso Farms (Scargill) received 379 c for seven bales of fine shorn hogget.

Several sales over 350 c were made for crossbred. C. R. Clark (Methven) sold 15 bales of crossbred two-tooth wool at 370 c and another Methven vendor, A. Gorman, received 362 c for six bales of woolly hogget. Two sales were made at 355 c, for five bales of Romney from the estate of T. Solomon (Chatham Islands) and for seven bales of fine crossbred from the bins of Pyne, Gould, Guinness, Ltd. Fifteen bales of early-shorn crossbred in a combined lot from Dalgetys made 352 c, and 351 c was received by two Chatham Islands farmers, A. Daymond for five bales of extra fine shorn hogget, and by N. Thomas for five bales of fine shorn hogget. G. C. Harris (West Coast) sold 12 bales of crossbred ewe fleece at 377 c, D. and J. Bishell (West Coast) was paid 375 c for 14 bales of similar wool. L. H. Brooker (Marawea) received 367 c for 12 bales.

Eleven bales of Coopworth two-tooth wool with a yield of 94.9 per cent made 375 c for Eskvale station, Ltd (Amberley). C. E. Grigg (Hickory Bay)

sold 13 bales of Coopworth at 359 c, estate D. J. Muckle (Methven) received 345 c for nine bales of strong Coopworth, and 333 c was paid for 25 bales of Coopworth from J. F. Gallagher (Okuku).

A. Hawke (Nelson) sold five bales of fine Perendale shorn hogget at 354 c. D. W. and O. J. Calder (Little River) received 351 c for five bales of Perendale.

The Lands and Survey Department (Rotokino Block, Whataroa) had two good sales of Perendale wool, 377 c for 32 bales of ewe wool and 369 c for six bales of shorn hogget G. and B. Flintoft (Waiau) sold 11 bales of Borderdale shorn hogget at 344 c and F. A. Silcock (Thorpe) received 340 c for seven bales of Border cross. Four bales of Borderdale shorn hogget wool from Bangor Farm (Darfield) made 317 c.

D. P. Graham (Nelson) received 349 c for 10 bales of Romney lambs’ wool and similar money was paid for 13 bales of Perendale lambs’ wool from the Lands and Survey Department (Ruru Block, West Coast). Twelve bales of Romney lambs’ wool from estate W. G. Gerard (Hororata) made 346 c and a combined lot of 19 bales of Perendale from Dalgetys sold at 342 c. Four bales of three-quarter-bred lambs’ wool from A. M. Bennett (Rangiora) sold at 349 c.

Two lines of fine Perendale lambs’ wool from two Tapawera vendors made 346 c, seven bales from D. and M. Jones and four bales from B. F. Moffat. Tehepe Holdings (Thorpe) sold 23 bales of Coopworth lambs’ wool at 327 c.

, From the bins of Dalgetys, three bales of quarterbred made 407 c and Waipuna Fann (Culverden) received 339 c for eight bales of fine threequarterbred shorn hogget. Ten bales of extra fine three-quart-erbred from E. J. Harris (Springston) sold at 336 c.

Two lines of Southdown cross from the bins of Pynes sold for 404 c (16 bales) and 394 c (seven bales) and I. R. Hamilton (Amberley) received 389 c for seven bales of Polwarth. A price of 394 c was paid for four bales of fine

Down cross from the bins of Wrightson NMA, Ltd. For 17 bales of Coopworth second-shear J. C. Partnership (Coalgate) received 360 c ana for six bales of crossbred second-shear Tirohunga Partnership (Kekerengu) was paid 350 c. Other good crossbred second-shear prices included A. J. Hutchinson (Wainui) with 352 c for six bales, T. E. Armstrong (Akaroa) with 349 c for seven bales, T. J. Pavey (Kaituna), 10 bales at 345 c, and J. E. Austin (Oxford), 21 bales at 343 c.

Sales of Romney secondshear wool included E. W. Newport (Nelson) with 10 bales at 345 c, and Waianiwa Farm (Mayfield) with 14 bales at 342 c. K. D. Hamilton (Kaikoura) sold 11 bales of Perendale second-shear at 334 c.

The order of sale was Dalgety New Zealand, Ltd, 681 lots, 8178 bales; N.Z. Farmers’ Co-op. Association of Canterbury, Ltd, 306 lots, 3473 bales; Pyne, Gould, Guinness, Ltd, 691 lots, 7473 bales; Wrightson NMA, Ltd, 762 lots, 8675 bales. Total: 2440 lots, 27,799 bales.