SALES FINISH WITH PRICES ON THE EASY SIDE.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVIII, Issue 16, 20 January 1914, Page 6

SALES FINISH WITH PRICES ON THE EASY SIDE.

LIfHOM OXfR OOEBEBPONDENT.J BS&DFORD, Deo: 12. Since we laSt/Wrote, ,the ondofthe final series of colonial sales has come, buyers returning home last Tuesday. /It is surprising what different 'are expressed ip regard to the mush, views which vsty according as the results are rcgam&d' from the standpoint of the grower or the consumer. To the former they ctonot but be looked upon as anything but satisfactoy, and to the. latter, while enabling users to obtain cheaper raw material, they ! have left the .market .without any inspiration, arid given everyone to see •tfbjat the raw' material does not stand to-day upon the strong foundation that it has done during recent years. vWhen prices f&v most of the wool fall "About Id perlb it shows that every- , thing is notl.wih'at it should be, and although the;; very cream of the naea-inos catalogued showed not a great deal of t change, yet the hulk oi wools declined immistakiably to a lower level than'"the majority expectn cd. We cannb-tisay that we are in any wise surprise^ 'although disappointed, $3i notwithstanding the great doings on the part of French and German buyers, yet by themselves they are unable to sustain prices without the,' material aid o-f the home trade, it peing the posi^o'n and attitude of the large users ik. which has' been i-eally responsible for letting; sdbwn the market. But then the question arises, Gould i^hey do otherwise? If the home trade is anything to go, by> at the . moment, the struggle for lower prices iff warranted. Up to; Jfte present home buyers jhaye to a; (large extent bCckm! aside and let their: -foreign competitors monopolise all; selling centres,/ being satisfied to adopii a hand to mouth policy because trade has so materially fallen off in' ■ tops, yarns, anci'pieces alike. For the first-time tor several years the West Biding trade has played the second part in the programme, and it has been very gallieg to many firms to feave been unable tft> play the part they hnve been accustomed to do. All the' same thej ti,ave felt that their , policy of abstention was the k safest and best under pi esent circumstances. THE CLOSING- DAYS.

The last'ferr (lays of the series cannot but be regarded as a time of weakness, and te> be candid there were times when wool showed a very decided ease oomjjired with the first week of the auct/^.LS. In cases where clips were offered in two portions, at different times during the series, those .sold during tlfsn--closing days some-

times brought prices Id below those j of the earlier days of the series. The decline was most in evidence on medium wools that would not give _ a clean yield of more than 48 percent.,, while on' faulty descriptions likewise, the loss was id to Id. Buyers seemed, to settle down to work only on. conditioii that they secured cheaper wool. All sections of the tirade received wiora from home that the response had been nil, that wool must come cheaper, and unless it did they must bify less. Really, speaking the chiet cause of the ease was the abstention from buying of tjie home trade during the earlier portion of the series, this having anything but an inspiring effect upon Continental buyers, several asserting that, they were con-, cerried regarding less active competition on the part of Bradford m particular. Both French and German ,* buyers candidly stated tftiat they saw no justification for their onslaught I and their paying prices a full 5 per I cent: above those of the home trade;

hence when their most urgent requirements were filled they lowered their limits and began to operate only at distinctly lower values. Towards the end American buyers also have less active support; in fact, the 3000 bales they are reputed to have flaken is a mere bagatelle, and during the last few days of the series they purchased less than during the former part. of the auctions A Some are of the opinion that- in view of the heavier condition of the Australian clip the decline in price is more superficial than real, but all.the same instead of buying wool on a clean scoured basis of 2s sd, as was the case last May, operators have been valuing this series on such a basis as to bring in tops at 2s 3d, which is a different! thing altogether.