OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 127, 21 February 1908, Page 10

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER

' AMERICA'S WOOL TRADE. Bradford," January 5. . It is that' America. haV been tho' prime' motor".'in causing l wool -values- to seriously fall, the 'financial' crisis at the end of October being feltan every market - 'in'lHp I 'wprld.''EV'er "since all eyes have been ''■u|wV*'{Ka'i;*ferfJKiy,' ! iind • it' is' only by the nearest shave that Germany has not followed suit. However, even there great uneasiness 1 'hasJ; been; 1 experientfedi,;and it' is as. y.et too »' yarly''to'say'-thai'in''the Fatherland the crisis is passed. It is generally .acceded that wool can "onlv'recover when America shapes more like business, and when money is again avail""ableTn Stfffiseh:t"'4u!i'ritity to; pay for commo- » 'flities' •'Theve'iasr-been a'lot of forced realisations here in Bradford by about the : biggest firm in the trade with a' large American

connection, gossip being vifo that this firm Jiad to raiso and deposit in American banks by the end of 1007 to meet prompts and reduce overdrafts. The result is prices have seriously suffered to the extent of .about 4d. per lb. all round for nil qualities of tops. The writer is in very closo touch with American wool markets, every week obtaining ■ the best reliable reports ns to what is doing. This Week the following interesting news has . como to hand, and as it was written towards - the close of the year when stock-taking was general, it is fairly encouraging: "While the :• past week has ■in no sense developed any . sensational features, the general strength of the.'market has been maintained, and from the standpoint. of actual sales, the week has • been more successful than late previous ones. As the end of the year is hpproachcd it becomes evident' that desirable wools have been and aro in stronger hands than many manufacturers expected. It is true that each day a certain number-of small, transactions are put through at prices that show n- slight -.deviation from regular quotations,' but with few .exceptions they are odd lots which the' holder is willing to let go at a slight concession for cleaning-up purposes. , Jt is also ovident th'at in many instances there are conditions attendant upon an individual sale, which do not become public, and which in .110 sense affect the general market. A ; dealer; may make a concession because in his judg-; . ment it is reasonable, but, owing to general trade conditions and their different effects upon individual concerns care must be taken to avoid imparting general significance to this procedure. To be sure, a bearish attitude still exists in buying circles, and while it results in bargains in certain small . trades hinted at above, it has little effect 'oh desirable' wools. For the time being few very large transactions are being put through, but on . fleeces, staple territories and ..Australian wools particularly prices are very firm, and buyers expecting' that a'slight shading from quoted prices might be possible are destined to dis- • appointment. Many manufacturers who, ex- ; pecting an easier market, postponed pur: chases, are discovering at the end of the year inventories that. their supplies : of good wool are lower than they calculated, and in not a few cases it is found that there is not enough on laud to run out goods to bs delivered on future orders. The result of this is renewed sampling and general enquiry , from, many quarters which, for a period nave been quiet. This naturally lends an encouraging note to the entire market, and gives promiso of business during the coming weeks unless signs; fail." 1 have to hand the valuable review of the .wool trade in. U.S.A., written by Mr. John _ Bruce M'Pherson, Secretary to. the National Association' of Wool Manufacturers in JJ.S.A., 'in, which, he deals in an exhaustive maimer with', the course of _ events during the year just ; closed, giving important statistics as to wool consumption and production: , In the course', of his . review, Mr. M'Pherson places, the number of sheep in U.S.A. fit for shearing in 1907 at- 38,664,932, compared with 38,510,798 in ,the', preceding,, year. 'Decreases are to-be found in some'of the'grazing States, j because of larger shipments than usual last s autumn, due to the attractive prices obtainable for both wool, arftl sheep, while in some, of the 1 States of tho East and Middle West the num--1 bers have increased. These facts seem to show 1 an- increasing interest in sheep raising, in tho f. sections where years ago the largest. numbers 3 .were found. .Prices'were agyn-,high for. all 3 kinds' of sheep stock during most of the year s under review, and these, together with a conr traction of the range, account in large measuro 1 for the decreases to be found in some of the . range .States.- , . », The season-of, 1807 was .unusual in some re--3 spccts: For the first time in several, years | no considerable quantity of wool was early contracted ■ for on • the sheep's back. When contracting was in vogue 1 buyers' representatives : appeared in tho field in considerable ■ force early in the winter, and even somemontliß earlier-'straggling buyers were about looking . for contracts. This year few, if any, ap- £ peared in Montana before' May,' and the great bulk of'the Stnto's clip was purchased late in. June: This holding off of the buyers was at-once attributed to a "combine" formed to, depress, prices, "rob .the grower," ■ and "secure the. 1007 wool at from two to five cents a pound below the market' value." The tight money which; the dealers feared, and at the suggestion of which the growers 3 scoffed in the spring, became very real in tho - autumn, and but for a quick turnover of 1 their purchases, before the stringency became - 'acute,' the dealers might have raftered seyerely r by reason of it. ' As it was, less money 'whs . made by them this year than last, when the 5 profits aro said to , have been : meagre enough. >• Much' as the' growers complained' pf the offers 1 made, they fared distinctly better" than, the men who bought their commodity, whose heavy expenses and costly establishments - the grow- ' ers too-often fail '-to ; ''consider during the negotiations for'the purchase of the wool, s It seems queer, .says Mr,...M'Pherson, that. - .wool .'growers should riinke mbro arid louder 0 complaints in these'days of supremely good 1 prices than they did in . the free wool .period t of the early sixties, when-wool was a drug s on the market,. and they rejoiced in securing ; on»rhalf to two-thirds tho' present prices. It. , niay be. the explanation is that' then they - felt wool was not worth much, and they were glad to get anything at all. for,it;' 1 arid that now, feeling, wool lias value,, they are dis-: appointed if the prices conjured ■ with • during' the winter months .are not..realised. But, notwithstanding ' the . complaints, , tho ijheep-men of,- the Sta'to". realised . tho highest average prices in the history of the industry, with j :but "one exception. How-eve)-, the small growl ers fared, just as w.ell as ■ the big ones this t year., In, 1900 the big clips were taken very 1 early, at high prices, and when the market 3 fell off later, the smaller men had to be cons 'tent''With' lower -figures. ' Such variations s ivere riot experienced last year, which is ac--1 knowlcdged to have been a more profitable 1 one than 1900, the nverago price'.being close to . 2H and' 22 cents .(lOjd: and lid.), a half cent f high than in 190 C, the-best previous average s being 23 cents (llid). e The total production of 'tho country for 1907. f is 298i2!)4,7501b., ecnm'l to 130,359,1181b. of , scoured wool; 948,1761b. : in excess of the estit mate for 1906. Tho excess is partly due to t the decreased shrinkage, noticeable in the '. wools of nil sections. f The total value of the wool clip for the year, e estimated on the prico in' Boston, October 1, I is -about the same as last year, being about i ,1.7 per cent, smaller. The average value per 5- lb. of 'the flcece arid the pulled wool has dea creased 2.3 per cent., and 3.9 per cent, rep spectively. The valuo of the clip has dc- , cieased from 79,721,383 dollars in 1906, to , -78,263,165 dollars in 1907. (Five dollars arc equal to i£l).' . FOREIGN WOOL IMPORTED. '' , : Classes' 'Class-. ' • 1 and 2 3.1 = Fiscal Total Merinos Carpet J Year. Imports. _ & crossbreds.,. wools. ... Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. • 1890-91 . ' 129,303,013 . 36,783,501 89,882,021 1891-92 145,670,(i52 53,350,167 93,312,922 1892-93 172,433,838 46,189,063 122,026,119 1893-94 55,152,585 ' 7,167,380 " 42,007,798 1894-95 206,081,890 98,388,318 105,402,507 1895-96 230,911,473 126,966,382 97,918,882 1896-97 • 350,852,026 235,282,735 112,141,457 1897-98 • .132,795,302 47,480,033.' 82,810,437 1898-99 76,736,209 ' 3,349,870 '60,947,423 , 1899-1900 155,918,455 44,680,424 105,525,783 1900-01 103,583,505 32,865,844 67,227,159 5 1901-02 .166,576,966 . 69,315,256 93,842,199 1902-03 177,137,796 54,747,533 119,397,268 . 1903-04 ' 173)742,831 '55,999,545 111,880,236 1904-05 249,135,716 131,407,321 112,292,726 1905-06 201,583,668 98,336,137 97,902,153 1906-07. 203,847,545 .. 91,726,655, 108,888,982 , The average weight of the domestic fleece is G.GOlb. a decrease from 6.661b. ,in 1906. The weight for 1005 was 6.561b., for 19M 6.501b., for 1903 6.251b., for 1902 6.501b., and for 1901 . 6.331b. The average shrinkage is 60.6 per cent., a decrease .as compared with 1906,. when .the'shrinkage' was 61.8 .per ,Cent.; ;. For 1905 the shrinkage was 61.3 per cent., for 1904'61.6 f per cent., for 1903 .60.8"per cent., for 1902.60.0 i per cent., and for 1901 60.6 per cent! 1 ' The proportion of fine wools. 1 decreased from 5 24-0!) per cent, in 1906 to 23.50 in the year, under review, though it is just about the per cent, of the! year 1894-5 nnd considerably above the average year. The total 'imports of classes 1 and 2, while over the ninety million mark* 1 , 'are less by 6,609,582 pounds, than last yenr 1 and 42,680,666 pounds less than two years ago. 1 The imports of class 3, though higher by •». .10,986,729 pounds than tho same imports of last 5 year, are less than the amounts imported in - 1 any of the three years immediately preceding 1905-6.The exports . and ' re-exports are 2,196,111 pounds less than last year and 765,604-pounds less than the' average since > 1899-1900. v , The following table shows the total supplies for the five-year periods 188S-1892, 1893-1897, 1898-1902, the ten ycai's'lß93-,1902,'and the fiveyear period, 1903-1907: a V ' WOOL SUPPLY 1888-1907. ,[ Fiscal -years.\ending All wools. Fine wools. , June 30. Pounds. rounds. , 1888-1892. Five years, 1 total' 2,122,407,842 1,686,818,840 a Annual 'average 424,481,568 337,363,768 e 1893-1897. Five years, .., ■ ~ d itotal' 2,549,920,592 2,070,423,829 s Annual average ... 509,981,118 . 414,084,766 1898-1902. Five years, 0 total 1,988,771,621 1,552,374,537 s Annual average ... 397,755,324 316,474,907 >1 189-3-1902. Ten years, . e ' total 4,538',213,692 3,652,798,366 I- Annual average ... 453,869,221 365,279,837 )- 1903-1907. .Five years,' - ■'■ ' 1- total 2,476,984,219 1,925,618,882 it Annual average nj[ five years - ... 495,896.850 585,123,776_