Strengthening dollar eases wool prices

Press, 18 January 1986, Page 6

Strengthening dollar eases wool prices

A strenghtening of the value of the New Zealand dollar was reflected in an easing of the price of some wool types sold in the Christchurch sale yesterday, although most fleece quotations were firm or only slightly changed. The fine wools yesterday were compared with the last fine wool sale of 1985, in Christchurch on December 20, when Halfbred fleece lines had risen 5 to 7.5 per cent when compared with Dunedin the week before.

At the December 20 sale the market indicator was 359 c greasy, and yesterday it settled on 340 c. But while' some quotations at the stronger end of the Halfbred/ Corriedale range yesterday reflected all of this difference, those at the finer end, 25 to 27 micron, held up well. Crossbred wools have been traded on five selling days now during January and the indicator has slipped two, three or four cents each time. Market sources attribute this to the firming value of the New Zealand dollar, and on December 20 it was round US5Oc and yesterday it was 52c. A USlc change in the Kiwi value makes about 4c difference in the amount that an overseas buyer would have to pay in New Zealand currency to buy a kilogram of wool at the same greasy auction price here. When the Kiwi moves up, the price to the overseas buyer would have to rise to maintain the same auction price, but in practice this does not seem to happen. Instead the overseas price stays the same in United States or some other currency, and the New Zealand auction price comes down. In this case a 1c rise in the value of the Kiwi dollar appears to translate to a 2.5 per cent drop in the wool market indicator.

Leading Halfbred prices were received by Stevenson Brothers (Flaxton) who sold two bales of shorn hogget at 464 c (76.5) and five bales of Halfbred at 406 c (74.9). Another successful vendor was P. C.

and C. E. Blain (Ashburton) who sold four bales of extra fine shorn hogget at 461 c (66.4). Seven bales of fine Halfbred shorn hogget from R. G. B. Ward ana Son (Seddon) made 394 c (68.5), C. J. and M. R. Svenson (Greta Valley) sold six bales at 387 c (74.3), and Estate J. S. Allan (Culverden) received 386 c (70.6) for 17 bales of fine.

D. Anderson (Waiau) was paid 385 c (74.3) for 13 bales of Halfbred, A. E. and M. E. Birdling (Birdlings Flat), 382 c a for six bales of strong red, and J. A. Allan (Waikari) sold four bales of medium shorn hogget at 381 c (68.3). Foxdown Partnership (Amberley) received 392 c (75.1) for 19 bales of medium. Quarterbred sales included 500 c (68.5) for five bales of woolly hogget from K. L. and D. H. Searle (Hororata). Four bales of extra fine Corriedale shorn hogget from Devaar, Ltd (Cheviot) make 445 c (66), and four bales of shorn hogget from S. F. Smith (Rangiora) was worth 407 c (70.2). Prices for Corriedale shorn hogget included 390 c (79) for eight bales from E. M. and E. F. Lukey (Wakefield); 380 c (71.1) for five bales from Stroma Partnership (Waiau); and 370 c (69.8) for 11 bales of fine from Conway Downs (Kaikoura). K. F. Breading (Rakaia) received 399 (67.1) for nine bales of fine Corriedale, and Kyleview Partnership (Ashburton) was paid 387 c (65) for six bales ot fine woolly hogget. Strong Corriedale sold to 370 c (72.9) for eight bales from B. W. Stewart (Cheviot) and H. L. and M. P. Pickering (Greta Valley) received 372 c (72.8) for 12 bales of two-tooth. Among a big offering of crossbred shorn hogget, E. B. C. Komen (WhataroaJ received 417 c (90.3) for five bales, and W. F. Gilbert (Nelson) was paid 414 c (86) for five bales. Other crossbred prices over 400 c included nine bales of shorn hogget from F. D. and H.

B. Richards (Hororata) at 407 c (82.3); 15 bales from M. A. and N. C. Lanauze (Chatham Islands) at 404 c (80.9); and G. B. Simms (Nelson) with 403 c (85.8) for four bales. Eight bales of Romney shorn hogget from Quail Downs (Kaikoura) made 408 c (82.2), R. W. Long (Hanmer Springs) received 400 c (83) for nine bales of Romney hogget, W. R. and G. W. Lemon (Ashburton) sold four bales of crossbred at 400 c (75.8), and S. M. and S. F. Millar (Little River) sold 11 bales of crossbred at 400 c (82.5). Other good crossbred sales included 10 bales from Fleming Brothers (Nelson) at 395 c (83.8) 16 bales of shorn hogget from The Downs (Mt Somers) at 396 c (80.5 k 10 bales of strong from Te Mania Farm (Parnassus) at 397 c (81.4); nine bales from R. G. Barnett (Kaituna) at 396 c (80.9 k eight bales from M. and W. F. Bell (Rakaia) at 398 c (81.7) and five bales of Romney shorn hogget from Miss E. E. Richards (Hororata) at 398 c (82.5). Several vendors received 391 c for Coopworth, including Kylemore Farm (Rakaia) for 11 bales of shorn hogget, P. J. Cropp and Son (Cheviot) for five bales of strong, and J. D. Stewart (Rangiora) for seven bales of shorn hogget. P. A. Joblin (Greekpark) sold five bales of Coopworth at 390 c (77.9) Ribbonwood Farm (Takaka) received 390 c (83.6) for 13 bales, and Holmstead Farm (Methven) sold four bales at 388 c (80). Perendale reached 393 c (79.4) for four bales of shorn hogget from I. R. Wilton (Murchison) and 387 c (79.8) for 16 bales of shorn hogget from J. T. R. Chambers (Waiau). Early-shorn Perendale from the Lands and Survey Department (Mawheraiti, Reefton) made 374 c (83.1) for 34 bales, and P. H. Win and Son (Wakefield) sold six bales of earlyshorn at 373 c (81.3). J. R. Wilson Partnership (Hanmer Springs) received 384 c (82.2) for four bales of medium shorn

hogget, G. Wright and Son (Coalgate) sold eight bales of Perendale at 381 c (78.5) and six bales of shorn hogget at 380 c S 8.1), and L. A. and N. M. A. armer (Little River) sold 11 bales of Perendale at 377 c (78.4). Two lots of Polwarth from S. H. and C. M. McLeod (Blenheim) sold at 420 c (75) for six bales of shorn hogget and 399 c (74.8) for 16 bales of ewe. Lincoln College (Lincoln) received 399 c (66.4) for six bales of Dorset Down, and 395 c (77.5) for three bales of Border Leicester shorn hogget Nine bales of Border-Corrie-dale shorn hogget from A. R. and N. J. Beatty (Darfield) made 395 c (78.3), and four bales of Borderdale shorn hogget from B. R. Chamberlain (Ellesmere) reached 385 c (77.7). Mildara Partnership (Rakaia) received 381 c (70.7) for 41 bales of Borderdale and H. I. and M. E. Robinson (Woodend) were paid 380 c (70.9) for eight bales of English Leicester. Two Chatham Islands farmers had good sales for crossbred second-shear — John H. Preece sold five bales at 391 c (83.9), and North Head Farm received 384 c (80.4) for eight bales. Twenty-two bales of Romney second-shear from J. C. Wyllie (Collingwood) made 387 c (82.5), Davison Holdings (Banks Peninsula) sold 17 bales of Perendale at 384 c (79.1), M. S. and E. L. Mcßae (Greymouth) sold nine bales of Perendale at 382 c S, and four bales of er-Corriedale from L. J. Dawkins (Blenheim) sold at 373 c (80.7). A price of 401 c was paid for 10 bales (83.8) of crossbred lambs’ wool from R. A. F. Kingscote (Waiau). J. A. Gardner (Waiau) sold eight bales of crossbred at 390 c (83.6), Orr Hill Holdings (Rai valley) received 390 c (81.3) for 11 bales of Romney, and Te Mania Farm sold nine bales of Perendale at 386 c (80.8). Other lambs’ wool sales included Estate M. Tuanui (Chatham Islands) with 384 c (80.7) for four bales of crossbred; J. H

Steele (Motunau), eight bales of Romney at 386 c (81.5); Davison Holdings (Banks Peninsula), 11 bales of Perendale at 384 c (80.4); and J. D. and D. A. Caldwell (Cheviot), 10 bales of Borderdale at 384 c (78.4). The order of sale was Dalgety Crown 643 lots, 6858 bales; Pyne, Gould, Guinness 450 lots, 6204 bales; Wrightson N.M.A. 581 lots, 6754 bales; total, 1674 lots, 19,816 bales.