LONDON WOOL SALES.

Marlborough Express, Volume L, Issue 2, 4 January 1916, Page 6

LONDON WOOL SALES.

t>e:yi'.vnt> rx^ATisFJ k'd- ?:<yii G.M*l> ai'ttULN'Oft AN"i> CiU)SS■jiHh'JDS.

[FBOM OLTv COIIitESPONHfcKIVj

LONDON, Nov. 11, 1915.'

The sales 'woro resinned last Tue-s----dav, when there was no lack in attendance, the ho;ue trade ho.'nvr, particularly well represented -Some who v.cvv not present last week _turned up < n Tu?«d«»y, besides a row French buyers. If.vicfeivtly t'.mre is iio diminution in the course of the auctions, and we have not heard a single complaint. -at the present order 01 things, the nbsanee of a Monday's sale evidently being appreciated by all sections of the trade. While on some days wools have-been absent from the catalogues that ought to, have, been staged, there has not been, .anything like tho weight of wools wanting that one saw omitted in September, ' and there is every likelihood of the present arrangement of no sale- on a Monday la.'.tiny, till the^war terminated. No Kec-i-.ion oi' the trade is suffering, because of th.'j present arrangements, but all alike feel that some benefit has been derived, and in the aggregate, if tho wools .ire staged that are catalogued, it will be infinitely better than a thousand bales being wanted, as v as tho ease on many days during previous series. The catalogues this week' have not presented a very attractive appearance, there . being considerable weights of interior parcels still submitted. Of course, the catalogues are boing salted , nicely with new clip wools r ram both New South Wales and Queensland, and but for these ill ere would be ;m exceedingly poor f.how. All the wools have cosne from what may bo called early districts, chiefly central and north-western Queensland, and the far western portion of New South Wales, and qii the whole the. parcels, show unmistakable evidence of he sheep having passed through a- very dry.tinio; We have heard no one find 'fault regarding tho quality, the missing link in many of Tho clips beir.a; the want of length and soundness of staple. BOOM PRTCES IN ADELAIDE.

Tho outsi.andiag feature of the week s auctions lia.s been the. excellent' call for good clip?..; and anything at all wc-i! grown has sold as well as evei'. ■Wlu'h. 16d to. Ki-id is being paid for greasy fleece wool that will not give a C'legn'yiold of morcr'than 47 per cent., it shows distinctly-what wool is worth. The hand of the trade is certainly being forced/by oversea,s cable.;, and, the prices &ent over from Adelaide last Friday almost took the breath out of the mouths of many buyers. No cable lias ever been more seriously considered than that published by Messrs Elder; Smith and Co., Ltd. showing the average prices • realised for fleece wosls, and they. created quite a «en ; ;ation. All the' Yorkshire papers published it last Monday, and on 'Change it gave rise to a good deal of discussion. Of course, the brands are known to practically all buyers, particularly topmakers and spinners .'/itls whom South Australian wools have always been favorites owing to tho shafty nattire. of ihe clips, and to find such clips at Rhine Park, Buckland Park, Glen -Turret, Carunna Downs, and (Jlooloo averaging from 1-1-^d to 15£ d means big prices when that wool gets into the top. One must add to the above prices. 2d per lb as representing the cost^ of bringing the wool from Australia to Bradford, and'tlie wools at. the very outside will not give more than 53 to ">4 per cent, clean yield, if so much. Many buyers, give them 52 per cent, and calculate that. in many cases tops made from these marks are going to cost anywhere from 3s -lid to 3s 6d ncr lb. These certainly must be regarded as boom prices, and illustrate what the trade is to-day greatly in search of, namely,, length'of staple and wool possessiong sound commercial properties. .

GOOD WOOLS SELLING AS WELL

AS EVER.

Of course, the current series of London 'sales has not produced wools of the above chiiacter, the nearest approach beng the Maaonpe clip oxfercd a; week'ago, and'which sold up

to (7id. This ivni< old wool from the shearing of J914 showinfc a- very good staple, btrt 'nirry, and ihc c;le»n yield would not hi* any more than ~>U to 52 per cent. Stilf it sold splendidly, «nd the wrne nj\rst be said for si.il similar (•losses. Tlkmv. .seem.-' to be a perfect dearth <if ro-a-IKy sound comfnng wools, H«'i!e.(:-i;in<i- tiui.t buyers appi'er-iat^l, and tJi<^ sica'-Tity of this class ,'s no doi'bt largely responsible- for the excellent price;* which are bninjj; . paiu. Mnnio tr:u!(> users are apparently vrry much . com-crned. at the strong rising tendency of values at the- beginning of i\ ses:.s(ni, and many "Bradford top-, makers are nonplussed, at being faced with prices which mean in many eases at iuast ;-1s 3d for good 64's toj>s. Of t:ourse, foj' blie shabbier wools very different figures are being paid, but there i*■--certainly better competition. ior even medium combing wools, and tlu'io is jio giving way whatever in. ]>rii:es. Vaiues for everything of a re:v'ly rssoFul nature are fully maintained, if- 'anything these being against the buyer. It seems to us as if the mMiJcet is in such n condition that if France, Belgium, and Germany^ could row step m have their fling as of old wo should see prices lifted for even faulty wools at least 10 to 15 per cent., that being the weakest side of the market. Good scourods are also commanding excellent competition, and those, who have been waiting to see Russia cease her operations and gf/e home trade buyers a cluiHre to pick up clean scoured merinos see that it is useless waiting any longer, and many woollen manufacturers in the West Riding are at the moment disposed tp: bid more vigorously than they have done, forcing, the hand of Russia, a little" more than, its representatives care for.

FAULTY WOOLS UNCHANGED. The rnos-.1, that can be said about the faulty and inferior descriptions iis that they are meeting with a rather better reception; while wo cannot say .that > prices are quotably ir-c-her, tho • fall seems to hare subsi (led, and there is more general pcmipefcifcion for these, wools. Anybody who can use seedy, burry parcels (•.•in to-day .socuie some very reasonable raw mateiial indeed, and there seems to the writer to be far • more.value in. the lod to 17d scoured'burry •wools whk'li show a decent color thaii .thcre.--i.s-.in the parcels are si-!li»'ia; the top side- of 2s. 3d. What v/<i mean is that there is no con--sistency whatever in tho prices bid hy'. buyers, and woollen manufticturers who liave the necessary plant for dealing with, the 16d scoured wools are to-day purchasing raw material which after the war will be looked upon a,s dirt cheap. Another -penny .decline and these cavmhing pieces and bellies vr\]\ bo as r-ueap as they were v.t the lowest point last December v.'hen they coultl hardly be fiold. We understand that «.' French buyer Jias l>een 'forkiiiuie in Kccuring a- carbonising plo.nl, -aif:tinted . aiear the Spanish frontier, and if so, we /fully expaet to see increased competition 'for these wools on French account. It is rather noteworthy that inanufaeturors from Yorkshire who own carbonising plant are buying more actively than they were; at least they seem prepared to operate on &■, larger sc^.le, and are therefore determined to do their utmost to obtain corisiderablo slock while- it is there to bnv. Some seem to think that these wools are still, selling; tit higher values than theyvortght to do, but the writer fails to see that in th,e least. There |is no -que^tioiit of a doubt as to -which is the cheapest stoic on the market-to-day, and anyone capable of using these faulty wools can pi<?k up any day a real good bargain. I When one contrasts faulty ecoured 1 with the price of noils, the latter are in the picture very prominently, and noils . ai-e ." dear compared to the present prico of faulty merinos..

CEOSSBREDS SOUND AND HEALTHY.

If there, was m London to-day a decent selection ,of crossbred wools they would be ; commanding bjg figures, .and it would not lake really excellent wools to see Is 9di paid once agaiu for greasy fleece. ' Of. course, ''the parcels on offer are all old wools. from the New Zealand shearing of 1914, and having been about in the> .docks .or elsewhere,, xlo not present: » very' • satisfactory '■' appearance/ one competent authority remarking last week that many parcels have in them .at;least 10 per cent, of water,-'or, to per cept.' ex£ra condltio'n. Prices are all as firm as eve)!^ and anything decent still commands the muiivided attention, of both the ; home - v and American trades. There is still. l£d advance in evidence for all decent lots, and the trade is entirely unsatisfied. .Steadily advancing top values in Bradford all means inci'oased pairehusing power, or rather better limits to buy to ; . which always lias its effect upon the price of wool. Slipes are soiling ntpractioallv unchanged values, and America- is stillin the market for them, although a few firms have not been so keen as they were. Still 24d and even 24-|d has, been paid for sliped Lambs," America mostly wanting; medium and fine quality parcels, "When we eorhei to Leicester and Lincoln lambs, the .lemand is not so keen, while the heavy limey sliped crossbreds are still seilling at very little more than in _ Scourod..- orosbreds are making .fabulous- prices, and the advance to-day is often 2d to 3d per Ib. Of course, it is the scarce supply which is largely the cause of-this, but, all things considered, the homo trade, America, and France want the wools badly. Of course, seedy parcels, which will have to \he carbonised before being used, arc not selling like good scoured ileeoo wool, even Italy wanting the latter. This means very keen competition, prices still tending upwards. HEALTHY CONDITION IN BRADFORD. [ Turning to consuming centres, the ! market nt Bradford is bordering upon ?. state of boom, the price of tops j tending vary materially after the ; order-of .things "which prevailod lofit,;' June and July, when prices .touched j 3s. 9d for 64's loos. Proctic-aliv \ f.peakin^, values have lifted Id per lb '. per wetik for tlu.> past three weeks, \ and whereas the-writer purchased ' good 64's at 3s Old even a fortnight .• ngo, the same tiiptnaker is to-clav -' demanding 3s 4(1'!• Of course, this ' i."> a fictitious pri'.'o, -■ largely protective, j but if. shows (he general tendency' of , quotations Things nre very j he-ail thy, and topnuikers apparently | have «11 on to copp with tlie demand i for merinos on home, or French j account No fine tops arc being] allowed out of the country except to I France, notwithstanding persistent { inquiries from Scandinavia and else- { where. Australian cables no douibt j nre at the back of topinakers' minds, [ | Vmd they aro dpter'Jiined^not to risk' the in tare by takin.ef i-idicvilous '. T>rifes:. Some 'have sod rather low. hiw'mtr taken from 2s lOd to 2s lid for 04's, but to-day prices aro such tiial ii m making \ise^ tluvtk iwir-e j

neioro selling heavy weights. Franca >s a persistent buyer, and some firm» ..■nv now prepared to consider offei-s. for .next March and April'delivery. The same thing obtains m crossbreds. Hero too values a*-e all a. good' Id hi glim- on the weekj largely due. to the export demaad on the pai't of Italy. Licenses* are being grafted very .tardily, and the War Trade Depsirtmeht is evidently not disposed to give to the trade all that it is asking for in this particular. Ay.few. licenses have been granted for Hollnnd but precious few, and it' only needs values To advance a little further, when, the War Trade Department ■will cut off licenses1' entirely.