INCREASED VALUE OF WOOL

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22827, 23 December 1948, Page 2

INCREASED VALUE OF WOOL

' Wool was not making such tremendous prices as some people might think, said Mr. J. Acland, a member of the New Zealand Wool Board, speaking at the Pareora freezing works to farmers, reports a Timaru correspondent. Referring to a British newspaper which assessed the 1934-38 prices at 100, Mr. Acland said that in April wool value stood at 228, and American cotton 392. Jute had increased in price five times, and silk three and a-half times, he said. On an average, raw textiles had gone up four times in value, in comparison with wool, which had risen only two and a-quarter times. The only catch was rayon, which had less than doubled its value, said Mr. Acland. . When the Joint Organisation wool marketing scheme concluded, it should be replaced by a similar organisation, said Mr. Acland. • While it was necessary to make people of the world “wool minded,” it was equally necessary to ensure that there was enough of the right type of Wool to cope with the demand, he said. While three and a-half billion pounds of apparel wool were used in the world today, only three billion pounds were being produced, he said. The United States was using twice as much wool as before the war, and whereas she was formerly importing practically no wool, she now imported 70 per cent, of her consumption.