LONDON WOOL SALES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLVIII, Issue 4504, 22 March 1917, Page 3

LONDON WOOL SALES.

GOVERNMENT ACTION DISTURBED CONFIDENCE.

(From Our Special Correspondent.) LONDON. Jan. 18.

The first series of colonial .sales finished last Tuesday, and everybody was glad that the end had come. It must be said the new. year has shown that the position of the merino offering is a vast contrast to what it was in December, and if there are no better times in store, the colonial wool trade looks like taking a downward step. It goes without saying that things have been very much disturbed, there being no section of the trade that seems to know exactly where it stands. Of course this is directly traceable to Government inteiferonce, what one plain Yorkshireman styled as meddling with tilings with which they had no business, but that is hardly compatible with present circumstances. However, the fact is patent to all that values have received a sharp set-back, and instead of even a firm market we have to record a weak and unsatisfactory finisn. All .last week tilings seemed to go Irom bad to worse. A few seem to think that the position of shafty '•t’.aight combing wool is sound and good, but that is not the view of the writer, and if we were permitted to give full facts, we could very soon set ueiore the reader particulars wr.ich woulr. show how weak the market was. It is quite true that good shafty ne.v clip Australian merinos are still selling at 2s 5d to 2s 9d, but one has only tu consider what these wools have made either in December or at the beginning of the series to realise ihe setback that has occurred.

WEAKNESS DEVELOPS IN MERINOS.

When viewed from a selling standpoint the past week has been ebsappointing, and the finish saw varies at the lowest point. It :s the «r : u r’s hrm conviction that the whole of ihe very sensible advance of Decent! or has been more than lost paaicuhi’ly upon wools of a faulty nature In fact, towards the end of too • inber series medium and ian’:v i-ourcc's lost part of the ground gained eai ly on, but this series things have got gradually worse until sir- L'.e f-m.-h they showed a decline of iinywlu.ru from 4d to 6d per lb., ar c. so.netones more. To find even average scoureds selling in December ii’Mimd Mi C 1 at the finish not even comma i ting a f .d of 3s shows more weakness thin even the most pessimistic ever wpecied, and in that sense the close was very disappointing. The fact of the matter is that for anything blit ihe best wools, buyers seemed to have no desire to bid. not knowing whether the market will get worse or firm tip again. There are sound arguments to oc used in either direction. If the disposal of the old English clip is anything to go by, everything would indicate some recovery, but at present we have to face the fact that things are decidedly weak, and medium and faulty wools have gone back more than anyone ever thought possible. The best feature pf the scries has been the healthy call for good shafty topmaking wools. We expected on the opening day to see some very good wools catalogued, and in this respect the trade has not been disappointed. Both New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, and West Australia have all alike' sent to the market some most useful clips, but after the trade’s most urgent wants Were satisfied, buvers settled down to operate on a distinctly lower basis, and even these wools have lost ground to the extent of to 10 per cent. This of itself is a most significant feature, and particularly in view of the Government commandeering wools consigned for sale on growers’ account. There certainlv have been catalogued some splendid clips, wools well suited to the requirements of the home trade, and the fact of France purchasing, well on towards 3000 bales shows that our Ally is manifesting a greater interest than since the outbreak of war. We are in a position to say that more combing machinery is bein-t got to vyork in France and tier purchases this year should be on a more liberal scale than since the outbreak of hostilities. Still, to find good shafty greasy merino combing decline as much as it has. shows to some extent partially lost confidence in the present position of values, and the series’ close is distinctly disappointing to those who are watchiim the interests of Australian clients. If we take good clean bulkv scoureds, a similar record has to he chronicled. There have been this series no 5s 3d combing wools, and that looks like being high-water mark. We believe on one occasion only 4s 8-Jd has been bid. hut wools that were selling round 4s 9d in December have changed hands freely at around 4s 3d to 4s sd. and some verv good parcels indeed have been sold as low as 4s. Russia has bought practically nothing, and these good scoureds have certainly missed the competition of our Ally. Of course it is too early ,T et to anticipate open ports, and having purchased considerable quantities during recent months in Australia, Russia in all probability is liardlv in need of wool as would otherwise he the case. A little American competition would have made a bier difference to faulty carbonising narcels, , and instead of importers being able to see big profits as Huring recent series, the present standard of values has practically precluded decent profits.

CROSSBREDS CHEAPER. The offering of crossbreds has been on a decidedly limited scale, and all intents and purposes the trade lias not been verv keen to buy at anything like the level seen in December. A little New Zealand clin lias been offered, one well-known mark exhibiting many excellent characteristics. The bulk of the crossbreds offering in the crease have consisted of old clip wools, and these, we should sav, have lost ground by per cent. It 'is certainlv all the mure surprising in view of the position of crossbred tons in Bradford but no doubt the decline has been helped by the Government publishing prices for tops and fixing same at a lower basis than what have recently been ruling. Scoured crossbreds have also moved to a lower level, and the same must he said for slP"~ Of course, the offering this series of both these description lias been sensibly below anyth Inc witnessed since last July, due to the clearing off of the 1915 New Zealand clip. At times a few good slipes have been catalogued, but the offering- of scoured crossbred wools has been disappointing. Still, keenness to buy has not. been in evidence, and here again prices have declined generally 7h per cent. WHY SHOULD WOOLS DECLINE? The Question has been asked by many—Wh- should there have been such a sensible decline in face of the fact that trade is still good and mills are exceedingly busy ? There is no doubt that the Government scheme

for dealing directlv with mills lias had a damping effect upon the whole trade, many arguing that it seemed to them useless to carry stocks of wool at such high prices when they saw little chance of being able to sell same. Many argue tnat if the Government takes over the mills, then there would be no opening whatever for users to bin* through any party except the Government, it also being a fact that where Government orders are in the hand of manufacturers, they will be supplied .with the raw material direct by the Government, all their machinery needs being catered for. Nobody seems to know the price at which manufacturers will be supplied with wool, but it is generally believed that they will nay sensibly less than if they had it to buy in Coleman Street, this also being one more knock against prices. The recent series has well furnished the illustration of what always happens when confidence is disturbed, and the future will be watched with very great interest because the trade knows very well that sooner or later a big weight of merino wool will come to hand which Government orders cannot possiblv consume, and what "'ill be done with the surplus will be watched intently bv everyone. It looks to many as if free wool should re-assert its position, but that will depend upon circumstances which are bound to develop between now and the arrival of larger supplies of commandeered wool.

GOVERNMENT TOP PRICES. Since writing last the Government luis issued a list of prices for standard classes of tops, a proof that the commandeered colonial clips will be sorted, combed into tops, and sold by the Government. The wiiole matter has been carefully gone into by those in the know, and on the price the wool lias been commandeered at, and the prices fixed for tops by the Government, the latter, if able to sell, will make a very handsome profit. However, the time ,is not opportune for saying what, but the following is a list of the Government prices:—

80’s d. ... 72 70’s warp ... 70 70’s ... 69 64’s warp ... 69 64’s ... 6S 60 f s super ... 66 60’ s ... 64 5S’s ... 56 56’s ... 52 50’s ... 42 4S’s ... 36 46’s carded ... 35 44’s carded ... 33 50’s prepared ... 39 48’s prepared 34 44’s prepared ... 32 40‘s prepared ... 31 36’s prepared ... 30