YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1060, 24 February 1911, Page 3

YORKSHIRE LETTER

■ Tin; SMJMP IN CONTINENTAL ' rUTUHES. - IJrom Our Srcc!.il Correspondent.! Bradford, January 111; 1911. Time is moving oil, nml.in a few more days the first series of Colonial wiles will bo-upon us. it teems but n fe»v days since the'.trade last assemWil, and shortly .nnother 1118,000 bales will engage the attention «of tho industry. There - seems to be'no .standing still in the wool business for either at one place or another the raw., material is occupying the mind of thousands.' When one".thinks of' the work of- nature silently performing 'its task, and the samc'co-operaling with tho brain nml- hand of man, it is indeed marvellous the results which ,aro **?"• I. have wandered silently over tho hills and through tho dales of Yorkshiro and seen tho sheep quietly graze, oftentimes meditating on the work of an almighty Provideucc in creating this useful litflo animal.'... It nliko provides, food for tho inner and' clothing for the outer man, and'it is indeed wonderful into what channels its fleece, skin, and meat are entering in order ,to supply tho needs _of the world. 'Ono wonders : what 200,000 bales of. wool feprcsents in actual live stock, • and if one. calculates that each lleeco represents, say, 81b.,"and each balo weighs, on an average 3501b.. then practically speaking wo liavo tho fleeco of about 8,800,000 sheep to be offered in Coleman. Street, at tlio impending series of sales. I'daresay selling brokers as well as buyers will find plenty of work fo successfully get'rid'of the entire boiling, but the task should bo easily accomplished if men will put out their-best buying strength,,and endeavour, to satisfy their immediate wants. Of course, there is 110 wool Hunger at. present, for direct imports are satisfying all tho requirements of .the .'trade. I'ivo hundred bales of wool-to tho majority of.pcoplo aro never out of place, for they can bo used either at one time or another. The fundaraentnl question is that of price, and hero we have the factor, which' is uppermost in tho; trado to-day. ' ' ■ A. DECLINING MARKET. Markets generally havo turned .unusually quiet, and I am sorry to say that in a largo measure, prices havo lost ground.- All European manufacturing centres seem to be dominated by -"bcarj influences, and. Continental "futures have fallen this ; last fortnight • liko skittles. It certainly is a.little tantalising to "find factors and'forces at work which • aro . affecting the operations of tho majority, and causing everyono to hold their liand.'. Tho work of the Continental "tear", 'party -has'in a largo measure succeeded! and no forco seems able at tho present; moment to stem'the downward torrent.' From what I hear from Roubaix,. I am convinccd .that directly it-suits tho purposo'of "this clique they will turn round.' and join in; a ■ "bull" campaign. They are simply doing what I said they wpuld for the past'thrco;ivoeks, namely, endeavouring to' create* a better . buying basis'in Australia.and secure a foundation on which .they can mako . 1911'contxibnto to. swelling their pockets. Tho majority of operators, both at" Roubaix,, Antwerp, and Havre,'.caro.no moro.about tho valuo of wool, than the man,in tho mcon, their nim' being to so manipulate prices as to be able- to ■ extract from ■ them>. some fat profits, and seemingly: they, are succeeding splendidly. SHARP SET-BACK "IN CONTINENTAL 1 FUTURES.' '. . .It; will' interest readers; if I show the general.bourse ' of quotations, at Roubaix during tho :;la'st fow months; and in the ttablo; beloV' : l give- tho figures for , the nearest ;;month on 'tho"datd 'named COURSE OF,CONTINENTAL'FUTURES. Eoubaix.' English V . ' . " Francs. Equivalent • l'or kilo. Per lb. .■. : ' •'■. ' s.'d. ■. September 1 ......... G.I2J ■ 2 2| October'■ G S.B2J 2 .13 ■ 'November'.3" ;.. G.O2J ;2.2j ' ■ ' ;November 17 .....5.80 2 1} v December, 1 5.871 ,2 1 9-16 . December 15 .1.......'5.85 2 1J December '29 ......... I' ll 13-16 December 30 , 5.82J" 111 '3-16 January 3 ............ 5.371. . 1 U 5-16 ■ January 4 5.40 1..111 ' January ; 9 ■ 5.871 111 5-16 January .11 ..; .5.271 1.11 ' ; . . EXTENT OF OPERATION'S ' I don't suppose the rank and. file'reader has any clear conception of- tho business done on these Continental ternW market?, and below l give some interesting par.tieulars. When ' one -reiiiembors. ;that 80 per cent. of these are paper transactions he will bo-able.to gain some deal-, Conception of the . extent of ' the operations. • Each kilo represents about 1-2511>.; consequently some ° big quantities aro sold weekly, lor instance; I had-word'last'wbok from Rou'baix that last December 31 on. tho Antwerp termo market for January, February, and March delivery tliero was already sold 0ver'12,900,000 kilos, compared with 0,500,000 kilos for tho corresponding three months in. 1909. The reader will therefore see what n. big effort has been made to,get down values, and;this week the movement has been further accelerated! by-prices dropping about Jd. per lb. .The*following aro.particulars of tho quantities ■ sold ' during rrccnt weeks on-, the Roubaix 'and Antwerp' termo . markets:— ' '.CONTINENTAL TERJIE SALES. ' , Roiib.ii,\. Antwerp. ' Kilos. • Kilos. October 17 to 22 ... 1,010,000 1,.150,000 October 21 to 20 ...' 950,000 1,030,000 November. Ito 5 ... 528,000 628,000 November 7to 12... 528,000 1,055,000 November 13 to 19 • 725,000 705,000 November 21 to 26 570,000 680,000 .December 1 to 10 ... ' 890,000 1,555,000 December 19 to 24 1,090,000. 1,655,000 December 2G to 30 1,630,000 2,338,000 January 2 to. 7 ... 1,015,000 1,505,000 CONDITIONS IN WORSTEDOPOLIS. Turning from the Continent to tho West Riding, conditions of a totally different character. confront the trade, and' I am sorry to,-say that values havo slightly '.declined-compared .with a week ago. ■ When nil is said and done tho sliarp setback in Continental futures has not affected Bradford as one might'havo expected,' tho simplo reason being that Jioljlers. know'• to a largo extent what ' are ■■ the tactics of thofo operating at Roubaix and Antwerp. The hand of Esau is too;much' in evidence for nnyono to hide the issue of liie pure speculators and, gamblers,, but in Bradford such movements are uukuown, f mid may they ever be absent. At'tho Yorkshire consuming centre, contracts aro freely entered' into every week,for forward delivery, but in nine cases out of every ten actual delivery takes place, and seldom is such a barefaced movo made as we have,scon nt tho Continental centres during the past,tlirco! weeks. As I have already l said quotations are in'a'large measure unchanged compared with a week ago, except that in-several cases .whero importing ton-makers have been in tho clouds and asked Jd. to Jd. moro thnn other firms, they r.avo now como down to what I may iall market prices, and they aro willing to sell on a basis of 26d. for their standard Gt's tops. A week ago' the well-known Laisterd.vko firm of top-mnkers reduced their standard super GO's. which is generally taken to be equal to an average Bradford Ct's, to 2Gd., and they have, since sold. The pity is that they did not come down 'a ■ fortnight ago, when they could havo sold to one customer alone one thousand packs nt'26d. Such a transaction ns that would havo helped to .stimulate the whole market, and havo given a little backbone to those importers who havo been a wavering quantity. But eveft to-day Bradford is scnsiblj; ' above the quotations ns seen nt Roubaix. Last Tuesday-at tho chief. French centre 60s River Plate wool tops wero quoted for February delivery as low as 23d., but I could not buy ill Bradford a common 60s under 2td. to 211 d., consequently prices have'fallen at Roubaix sensibly niore than they havo in Worstedopolis. At the same time there is not that feeling of nervousness and insecurity in Bradfo'-u that ono might linyo expected. Of course, spinners aro holding off, and--playingn waiting - gome for all they are wurth, be- - licving that they have nothing to lose by so doing. They know that if tho Continent is going to remain, inactive for any length. of time it will ultimately affect Bradford, and no doubt "bears" nt Roubaix and Antwerp are doing their very utmost to affect London next wei-lt. As I have already said, there is -no justification for this slumi) in futures except to create & better buying bfsis.