ARTIFICIAL PRICES

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 94, 18 October 1934, Page 16

ARTIFICIAL PRICES

WOOL AND EXCHANGE

. Dalgety and Company's authoritative annual wool review for Australia and New Zealand for the 1933-34 season is received. 'It is most informative on all aspects of the wool industry. Discussing the New Zealand markets, the review states: — "After four years of depressed markets and.ruinously low prices for wool, it is exceedingly gratifying to be able to record a very pronounced recovery in values during the last season. All classes of wool shared in the improvement, but the finer qualities were again the most sought after, and these descriptions were selling throughout the season at really payable prices. Prices for the coarser wools still leave room for considerable improvement, but even these sorts were materially higher in price than for some years past. "The regrettable feature is that so large a percentage of the prices received by New Zealand farmers is artificial, in that it is due to high exchanges and depreciated currency. This artificial inflation of prices has to be paid for sooner or later, and it cannot be said that the wool market is out of the wood until a payable range of prices is reached without such aid. In the meantime, the improvement lias come as the greatest boon to the sorely harassed farming community." THE LOCAL SALES GROW. One result of the improvement in prices is referred to, ■ viz., a considerable increase in the quantities offered in New Zealand markets, and the total sold to the end of May, viz., 647,381 bales, was the highest since the war period. This was, of course, partly due to the accumulation of wools held over from the previous three seasons. A considerable number of clips, however, which are usually shipped to London on owner's account, were this year sold locally, while there was a fair amount of reselling on speculative account. Christchurch was the only centre to show a decrease,.and this was due to the shortage in the clips caused by the drought conditions of the previous autumn and winter.