WELLINGTON WOOL SALE

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4635, 13 December 1934, Page 3

WELLINGTON WOOL SALE

DALGETY'S REPORT. ON MARKET CONDITIONS. Messrs. Dalgety and Co., Ltd., Wellington, make the following comments on the wool sales held in Wellington last Saturday:— The offering at Saturday's sale was a small one—ls,ooo bales—a great contrast, in both quantity and price to the December sale of 1933 when 30,000 bales were offered and 27,300 sold under animated competition. Our average at the latter sale was £l4 3s 4d per bale and 9.57 d per lb, as against on an estimate of Saturday's prices £9 14s per bale and 6%d per lb.

In the interest of the industry as a whole it is essential to keep on selling wool. Buyers expect reasonable catalogues. If offerings are restricted when it is known that plenty of wool is in store, and heavy supplies of the new season's clip accumulating, a condition develops that causes concern to the buying side of the trade, and* the bogey of a heavy carry-over undermines confidence. On the other hand brokers find it extremely difficult to advise their clients to sell in a depressed market if they can see any prospect of improvement. Yet it seems dangerous to withhold supplies. That in itself is a factor making for even lower prices. There is nothing like an undue accumulation of wool in store to depress the market, and growers who have wool available for sale should consider this factor.

There is no doubt that Germanyis anxious to purchase wool in New Zealand. She needs wool to clothe her people, and to keep men and women in employment. Buyers for Germany would, no doubt, operate freely in our market, but they cannot buy except to a very limited extent until they establish credits in the Dominion for their purchases. It appears as if the present strong feeling for intense nationalism in trade is somewhat to blame for the stalemate now being experienced and that nations will acknowledge the futility of a policy designed to" curtail imports and at the same time increase exports.

The extremely high and false prices recorded at last January's sales has influenced many growers to get their clips forward for the same month's sale this year and already the catalogues for the next Wellington sale are closed. Anything can happen in the wool trade but unless something unforseen happens we will be surprised if present range of prices show any appreciation. In January in three weeks, between Wellington, 7th January; Napier 12th January, Wanganui 17th January and Auckland 22nd January, about 109,000 bales, mostly crossbreds will be offered, and with Germany out of the market and only small orders held for Italy, France and Belgium, it seems as if this heavy weight of wool may be difficult to lift.