NEW ZEALAND WOOL

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 152, 13 June 1932, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND WOOL

A COMPLAINT ANSWERED, KNITTING-WOOL PLENTIFUL. A Hastings resident’s comment to a “Tribune” reporter this morning that New Zealand wool for knitting is unprocurable was referred to Miss Rees, of Rees’s Wool Shop, who immediately answered the reporter’s question by pointing to a large shelf containing skeins of New Zealand wool of a wide variety of colours. Such stocks are kept in most of the shops, and there should be no difficulty in obtaining it anywhere, Miss Rees added. The wool that our representative was shown was priced at 7|d, and was described as being of an even quality, with British wool at the same price. Other sorts of New Zealand knitting wool, however, sell at 5d and sjd. Five New Zealand mills are now manufacturing knitting wool, and that made by two of the mills is of particularly good quality. None of the New Zealand wool, Miss Rees said, was of an entirely satisfactory standard until this year, and even now the best of it could not compare with the best English wool. There is virtually none but British or New Zealand wool on the Dominion markets. Tariffs against forign countries make it impossible to import German or American wools at competitive prices, and even Australian wool, with the tariff added to it, cannot compete with New Zealand or British wool, though British wool also carries a heavy import duty. It is interesting to observe that manufacturing costs in New Zealand are so high that Britain can easily compete with us on the wool market in our own country and yet bear the burden of freight costs, port charges, local transport, and duties.

Miss Rees made the interesting observation that after investigating the matter she had come to the conclusion that 5y buying British wool her customers were giving just as much support to New Zealanders as though they bought New Zealand wool, for in the handling of British wool the New Zealanders engaged included wharf labourers, stevedores, seamen, railway employees, transport workers, customs men, and others.