Halfbred, Corriedale wools drop

Press, 10 August 1985, Page 6

Halfbred, Corriedale wools drop

It was the turn of the Halfbred and Corriedale fleece wools to take a drop in price of 2.5 to 5 per cent at the Christchurch wool sales yesterday. On Thursday, Timaru and Invercargill crossbred fleece wools being sold in Christchurch dropped 4 or 5 per cent in price after a substantial revaluation of the New Zealand dollar during the six-week period between wool selling seasons. Very little Halfbred and Corriedale fleece wool was offered by Timaru brokers and none is produced in Southland. Yesterday some big lines of pre-lamb shorn fine fleece were offered and the official quotations for the 28 to 32 micron range was down 2.5 to 5 per cent; fine 27 micron fleece was down 7 per cent compared with the last fine wool sale on June 26. But the official quotations do not tell the whole story. The Wool Board was also required to bid on nearly half the total offering yesterday and it bought or was passed 18.1 per cent. Buyers for fine fleece wools were not falling over themselves to get the attention of the auctioneers and many good lots were passed by the brokers when they failed to make reserves. Overseas interest in the

finer fleece lines usually comes nearer Christmas but in the past exporters have been willing to start filling anticipated orders as soon as the pre-lamb shearings are rushed to the auction floor. An added incentive for growers to get the wool off and get it sold has been the high cost of money at present but the same factor has made buyers reluctant to take positions. It is too early to say whether pre-lamb shearing management policies could need adjustment in light of the reduced early season demand. If the wool market kept on falling and the Wool Board also lowered its intervention levels, then the pre-lamb shorn fleece prices from yesterday could be good when viewed from the middle of the season. But the opposite is considered by market sources to be more likely: stronger and firmer inquiries from the traditional finer fleece buyers such as China being passed into the market by exporters starting from scratch to fill their consignments coupled with a weakening of the dollar. The combination would result in much better prices for Corriedale and Halfbred fleece later in 1985 and make the pre-lamb shearing management policy less rewarding this year than in previous years. The Wool Board is confident that the downturn is temporary and almost solely due to currency fac-

tors and it has intervened during the last two days by way of its subsidiary, N.Z. Wools. The significance was explained by Mr A. W. Patterson, group manager, commercial, who was in Christchurch for a farewell by South Island staff to the retiring general manager, Mr Hugh Peirse. The N.Z. Wools arm enabled the board to be more flexible with pricing levels and stock disposals, he said. The traditional intervention was undertaken on price levels set for longer periods, perhaps for a whole season, N.Z. Wools worked more like a commercial buyer, taking in wool and possibly selling it again quickly when the market improved. So by channelling its activity through N.Z. Wools alone the board its declaring that the market downturn is temporary and that is buying is not expected to result in a long-term stockpile build-up. Six bales of fine Merino from Prouting Mesopotamia (Peel Forest) headed the market at 680 c (64.4) and four bales of extra fine Merino from A. E. Van Asch (Seddon) sold at 648 c (68.9). A. I. Robertson (Blenheim) sold seven bales of super fine at 600 c (66.1) and 14 bales of fine also at 600 c (67.2). An attractive line of four bales of Halfbred woolly hogget from D. A. Hutton (Darfield) sold at 448 c (68.5). Six bales of woolly hogget necks made 560 c (69.1) and 19 bales of fine Halfbred fetched 412 c (67.4) for Stoneyhurst Partnership (Greta Valley). Extra fine Halfbred woolly hogget from Hitchen Hills, Ltd (Culverden), sold at 446 c (62.8) for three bales and 444 c (65.7) for 11 bales and Balnabreich Farm (Culverden) received 445 c (68) for four bales of extra fine Halfbred. E. J. and K. M. Henderson (Cheviot) sold eight bales of fine at 442 c (77.5) and 10 bales at 440 c (72.1), F. W. Brougham (Kaikoura) nine bales of fine woolly hogget at 440 c (68.3), and R. R. Armstrong (Blenheim) had sales at 426 c (71) for seven bales of fine, and 424 c (77.9) for 10 bales of two-tooth. Other Halfbred sales included J. N. and G. H. Senior

(Blenheim) at 425 c (79) for 15 bales, M. J. and M. A. Loffhagen (Culverden), six bales at 418 c (73.6), G. N. and J. E. Frazer (Rangiora), 21 bales at 417 c (72.3) and T. F. Davison (Culverden), six bales at 412 c (68.5). A leading Corriedale vendor was J. S. Dampier-Crossley (Parnassus) who received 523 c (69.9) for five bales of woolly hogget, as well at 506 c (70.8) for four bales of medium, and 424 c (72.1) for 19 bales of strong. Lex Couper (Amberley) sold eight bales of Corriedale woolly hogget at 503 c (63.8) and another six bales at 487 c (71.5). Four bales of fine woolly hogget from G. Maxwell (Cheviot) sold at 472 c (69.8), Mendip Hills (Parnassus) received 458 c (72.3) for nine bales of strong woolly hogget, and B. K. MacFarlane (Cheviot) sold four bales of fine woolly hogget at 455 c (69.6). Sales of fine Corriedale included J. L. and S. J. Doak (Amberley) with 14 bales at 430 c (68.7); I. A. and E. M. Turnbull (Amberley), four bales at 425 c (67); D. S. Latter (Cheviot), nine bales at 423 c (70.8) Brooklands Partnership (Cheviot), five bales at 420 c (70); Wrekin Holdings (Blenheim), nine bales at 416 c (70); and A. T. and A. W. Black (Waiau), 10 bales at 419 c (69.5). Two-tooth crossbred wool sold to 454 c (88.4) for 10 bales from C. C. and J. M. Croft (Rangiora). These vendors also sold 28 bales of crossbred at 440 c (88.5) and D. S. Kennedy (Kaikoura), received 438 c (84.5) for seven bales of extra fine shorn hogget, and 422 c (87.1) for nine bales of two-tooth. M. H. Jones (Ashburton) sold 12 bales of medium two-tooth crossbred at 435 c (84.8) and 13 bales of medium crossbred at 431 c (84). Sales at 430 c included 22 bales (86.2) from Rakanui Farm (Kaikoura) and 10 bales (85) from N. A. Anderson (Cheviot). Eight bales of Romney shorn hogget from D. C. and L. M. Jarman (Darfield) sold at 424 c (86.8) W. R. Ensor (Rangiora) sold 31 bales of Romney at 421 c (82), and T. D. McGrath (Oxford) received 420 c (82.2) for six bales of Romney. Other crossbred sales included 426 c (85.5) for 11 bales from W. J. Thompson (Motukarara); 425 c (85.5) for 10 bales of strong two-tooth from P. T. and M. T. Johnston (le Bons

Bay); 423 c (85.2) for four bales from E. D. and V. M. Marshall (Banks Peninsula); and 423 c (82.2) for seven bales from Broomfield Estate (Amberley). Several lines of Coopworth from R. C. Batchelor (Ashburton) sold well, including six bales of strong two-tooth at 439 c (87.6), 19 bales of twotooth at 435 c (87.4), six bales of strong at 422 c (84), and 34 bales at 419 c (83.5). D. J. and M. J. Mac Gibbon (Rangiora) received 438 c (88.5) for 12 bales, P. J. and A. F. C. Mowatt (Kaikoura), 418 c (87.4) for six bales of two-tooth, J. A. N. Grigg (Ashburton), 415 c (82.4) for 16 bales of two-tooth, and Estate G. van Asch (Christchurch), 411 c (81.8) for nine bales of two-tooth. Perendale ewe fleece sold to 425 c (80.6) for 15 bales from Moore Brothers (Rangiora), and 420 c (85.1) for 12 bales of two-tooth from H. C. and J. W. Studholme (Darfield). Other Perendale sales included Tokanui Farm (Little River) with 14 bales at 411 c (79.6), B. O. and L. J. Thomson (Greymouth) with eight bales at 409 c (85.3) and T. F. Davison (Culverden), with six bales at 408 c (76.1). Eight bales of Coopworth second-shear from S. J. Worsfold (Darfield) fetched 453 c (92.3) and two lots of secondshear made 430 c — 12 bales of crossbred (86.8) from Crowe Brothers (Nelson), and 11 bales of crossbred (85) from R.A.F. Kingscote (Culverden). W. L. W. Breidmeyer (Little River) received 429 c (84.1) for six bales of Perendale secondshear, Lands and Survey Department (Kaniere) sold 18 bales of crossbred at 420 c (88.6), and V. G. and M. D. Shadbolt (Duvauchelle) were paid 419 c (84) for 11 bales of Romney and 412 c (81.7) for 12 bales. Other crossbred secondshear sales included 418 c (88) for six bales from E. D. and V. M. Marshall (Banks Peninsula), 417 c (82.7) for nine bales from M. J. and A. G. Willis (Amberley), and 417 c (82.8) for 12 bales from M. D. Lucas (Cheviot). Sixteen bales of Squiredale wool from P. J. and M. E. Kinder (Marlborough Sounds) sold at 413 c (83.7). The order of sale was Dalgety Crown, Ltd, 532 lots, 6253 bales; Pyne Gould, Guinness, Ltd, 473 lots, 5923 bales; and Wrightson N.M.A., Ltd, 505 lots, 5686 bales. Total: 1510 lots, 17,862 bales.