LONDON WOOL SALES

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 103, 25 January 1939, Page 14

LONDON WOOL SALES

Good Clearances Made

By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. LONDON, January 23. Business was slow at the wool salef today, when 9081 bales -were offered, ucludi'ng 3451 New Zealand, anil 10-l bales were sold. . . . . f The selection was a lair one, ch eily ot crossbreds, which, together with the best Australian merinos, were well cleared at recent rates. , . . .. , . Withdrawals consisted chiefly ot inferior scoured wools.

H. Dawson, Sous and Co,, Ltd., the well-known London wool brokers, writing at the close of the December series ot sales, said: — , , , t . One of the most noticeable features ot the past series has been the rather large proportion of merino wools exposed lor sale. This has tested somewhat severely the absorbing power of the market at a rather critical time. Happily, there Has been no serious decline in values to report, though the market has suffered some irregularity and occasional withdrawals. At the same time the Cape market has been selling strongly at very srm prices, Germany and France dominating the market. Among woolmen there is u frequent expression of faith in line wool values, and perhaps the above facts contribute confirmation to these expressions. Yorkshire has been the chief operator tor crossbreds, especially in the woollen sorts, and topmakers have also, taken fairly substantial quantities of merino wools. It is still, unfortunately, very clearly evident that in merinos wool is dearer than tops and tops are dearer than yarn, and it is in the latter section that weakness is to be found. Spinners report that it is still difficult to get particulars lor old contracts, and stocks of yarns still show a tendency to accumulate somewhat seriously. France, in all markets, has shown a most remarkable comeback in their turnover and while prices for tops and yarns are keen we have not seen such 1* rench activity for several seasons past. This is undoubtedly assisted by the cheapness of the franc in relation to dollars and sterling. , , , In U.S.A, trading activity has revived considerably, and the figures show . improvement iu practically all sections, steel, motor industry and also the woollen trade. There is no doubt that in this latter section several months of dull trading had liquidated stocks on (he shelves of ready-made goods, and these are now iu course of gradual replenishment. America has consequently commenced to buy foreign wools again to some slight extent, and it is hopedf that their support will continue throughout the season. In our own Yorkshire woollen district trade has been a little quieter; manufacturers for the moment have covered their immediate urgent requirements, but without doubt the new’ year will find further wants to be catered fur. The situation in crossbreds is interesting. The keen demand and relatively high prices ruling for these grades has been assisted by considerable Government orders, anti the opening of the New Zealand sales has found the market also on n relatively higher basis than many anticipated, with good clearances being made.