The Marlborough Express PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 1909. THE BEST WOOL MARKET.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 174, 21 July 1909, Page 4

The Marlborough Express PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 1909. THE BEST WOOL MARKET.

In the annual review of the wool trade, recently issued by Dalgejby and Co., there is an excellent article upon the advantages to be derived from selling wool locally, rather than shipping'it to the Home market. Certainly, as the Review puts it, the old

order chaugeth. "For many years T.oikloii was Invoiced u;wr, as ITie inr.v-

ket for Colonial wools, and it undoubtedly was so. But the advance of the trade, the displacement of sailing Vessels by steamers, and competition aniongst shipping companies for freight; especially from large producing- countries to various parts of the globe, have resulted in buyers of all raw commodities preferring to purchase at the port nearest the seat of productionj,.and make i their owjx arrangements for shipping to the port nearest to the centre of consumption. The far-seeing pioneers of the great wool industry of Australasia realised that it would also suit the growers to market their "oods in their own couni try, thus retain control over the i product of their year?s labour, and in all the chief ports of Australasia commodious stores and showrooms have for many years been available; for the handling and displaying of the wool clip to the best possible advantage. Th<3 wool selling firms of Australasia have catered liberally for the requirements of both producers and buyers, whereas for many years the good oldestablished London houses did not realise that the handling of the major portion of the Australasian wool clip was "slipping through their fingers," but even had they been fully seized of the position, tho,force of circumstances was against them. They could not have prevented the marketing of the bulk of the wool clip on this side, for whatever the level of values might be, competition at the Australasian sales is always on a sound basis. If at anyHime there is temporarily any exhibition, of slackness in demand, selling brokers who can be in daily touch with growers meet the situation by withdrawing any lots for which there are no satisfactory bids. It is of the greatest importance to note that direct freight from Australia to any given wool-consuming centre of the world is cheaper than if the wool is sent via London. The saving is very considerable when the wool is wanted" for America, .but the contention holds good eyen as regards the manufacturing centres of England. For instance, the through freight from Australia to Bradford per steamer is at present id per lb (the same as .to London), whereas when the buyer purchases in London he has to pay 30s per ton, equal to 3-16ths of a peiiny per lb railage London to Bradford, or if he sends by coastal boat to Hull, and thence per rail, the cost. is';|d per lb, plus insurance. The same arguments hold good as regards- large Continental centres. The direct freight, Australia to Boston, is not only on the average |d per lb, or 3s 6d per bale cheaper than via London, but there is the all important consideration (especially to America) of saving of time. It is surely clear, therefore, that there is no necessity for Australasian wool to be sent to London arid handled at great expense there, to be then re-shipped to Dunkirk, Boston, etc., when buyers can secure here 80 per cent, of the t^tal ■ production first hand and ship <! direct. The natural facilities are greatly in favour of the Colonial markets, and they have been taken full advantage of by growers, selling brokersand buyers alike. All things considered, it'seems safe to predict that the great bulk of £he Australasian clip will continue to be sold here. In this connection the London brokers,have "a hard row to hoe," and it is,hardly to be wondered at that some of their annual wool circulars are to a certain extent devoted to criticisms of the: Australasian markets. The stock argument with certain London brokers is tha^ "the average price realised for a bale of wool is greater in London than it is in Australasia." Certainly it is, but it costs the producer over 20s per bale more to market his wool in the former centre. Furthermore, as has over and over again been pointed out, the percentage of scoured wool sold in London is very much greater than in Australasia; for instance, of the Australasian wool marketed in London during 1908 no less than 30 per cent, was scoured^, washed or sliped, whereas of the wool sold in Australasia during the past year but 11 per cent, was composed of such wools. Moreover, the great bulk of the wool which is sent to London for sale is composed of straight lines of station clips (well classed and carefully got up), the lower qualities of which, such as stained pieces and locks, are almost invariably sold on this side, thus helping to reduce the average price realised per bale here. Anybody at all conversant with the trade is aware also that practically no farmers' clips, spade-pressed and others, are shipped to London, whereas the expansion of closer settlement in the Commonwealth and New Zealand has been so great of late years that a large percentage of the Australasian catalogues are composed of these wools, which, generally speaking, are not only of less value per lb than station clips, but the bales are on the average very much lighter: Any comparison based on value per bale >is quite worthless, >but for the foregoing reasons the average price realised for a bale of wool in London should be several pounds sterling above «the Australasian average.