OPENING WOOL SALE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 28 November 1938, Page 2

OPENING WOOL SALE

PRICES UP NEARLY Id A LB. ALMOST TOTAL CLEARANCE AT AUCKLAND BIDDING EXCEPTIONALLY KEEN (United Press Association! AUCKLAND. 271 h November. With average prices nearly Id a lb above those ruling at the first auction last November, the opening wool sale of the 1938-39 selling season, held in Auckland on Saturday. was generally regarded as highly satisfactory. Crossbred wools were sought with avidity by a determined group of Bradford and Continental buyers. No official figure is available as to the average price realised for the whole offering, but a reasonably conservative estimate placed it at approximately l*'d a lb. This means an average return :o the grower of approximately £l4 a bale and an initial wool cheque of something more than £325.000 for the province. Comparative figures for the fut sale last season were an average of 9.37 d a lb. and £l3 10s 7d a bale, a id a total value of £201.700 The increased yield this year of well j over £120,000 will be most welcome to growers, many of whom said on Saturday that on the basis of existing costs, last year’s prices were definitely uneconomic. Top price on Saturday was 15d for two lots of halfbred wool from Waiheke Island. This wool almost invariably brings top price at Auckland sales and last year it was passed at 17d. The drop of at least 2d was a fair measure of the price offered for finer wools, and competition from local mills for this particular class of staple did not appear to be as keen as in some recent years. There was almost a total clearance of 24.241 bales. Sales were dominated by Bradford and the Continent. French and German buyers being particularly active. Only ■ two Japanese buyers were present and their operations were obscure. Bidding all round was exceptionally keen. RANGE OF PRICES The official report on the sale states: The first Auckland wool sale of the season opened with, an offering of 24,000 bales. The wool opened up in good average condition and prices for most lines showed improvement on rates ruling at the first sale last November. Competition was very keen, with France and Germany actively engaged. The question of Japanese competition was obscure. Excellent clearances were effected, fully 9G per cent, being sold under the hammer. The range of prices was as follows: Nov., 1938. Nov., 1937.

RECENT SEASONS COMPARED The following table compares results at the opening Auckland sales for the I past ten years : Average a Average bale. per lb. Y’alue.

The first sale of the 1936-37 season 1 provided a sensational start, for prices j rose fully 60 per cent, on the average ' value of the previous year. In sharp i contrast was the opening last year, when values dropped by 40 per cent, and only about a third of the catalogue was sold. Lots sold later by private treaty brought the final clearance to ! about 58 per cent., against 98 per cent in the previous year. NAWAD OF PATAUDI ENGAGED CALCUTTA. 27th November, j The Nawab of Pataudi has become 1 engaged to Princess Mehertaj. second daughter of the Nawab of Bhopal.

d. d. d. d. Southdown A . 9$ to 10$ 11 to 12 Southdown B ... 8$ to 9] 9j to 10$ Halfbred, 56 58Extra super . 14 to 15 15 to 16 Super 13 to 14 to 15 Average 12 to 12$ 13 to 145 Halfbred, 50/56Super 12$ to 13 13 to 14 Average 11 to 113 in to 125 Inferior 9 to 10 10 to 11 Extra Fine crossbred. 48 50— Super 11 to 12 11 to 12 Average 10$ to 11 104 to 11 Inferior 9 to 10 9 to 10 Fine crossbred, 46 58— Super 103 to 11] 104 to 10] Average 10 to 10$ 9J 10 Inferior 8$ to 9] 8 to 91 Medium crossbred. 44 46 — Super 10$ to 11 10 to 104 Average 9* to 10] 9 to 9j Inferior 9 to 9] 8 to 9 Coarse crossbred. 40 <4— Super 10$ to 11 10 to 104 Average 9$ to 10] 9] to 93 Inferior 9 tb 9] 85 to 9 Strong crossbred. 36 40— Super 10] to 103 10 to 104 Average 9$ to 10 9) to 93 Inferior Hoggets— 9 to 9$ 8$ to 9 52 56 11$ to 12 11 to ns 50/56 11$ to 12 10 to 11 48/50 104 to 11$ 9J to 104 46 48 93 to 11 91 to 105 Crossbred bellies and piecesGood to super 7$ to 83 75 to 84 Low to medium 64 to 7] 6 to 75 Halfbred bellies and pieces 9] to 10 8 to 94 Crutchings— Medium to good 7 to 8 7 to 9 Inferior to seedy 4] to 6 5 to 65 Locks— Crossbred 4] to 43 45 to S3

£ s. d. d. £ 1928 22 11 0 15.64 496.000 1929 15 9 2 10.95 238.125 j 1930 6 13 2 4.67 100.759 ! 1931 7 5 10 5.06 103.131 1932 5 12 3 3.68 132.118 1933 13 8 2 9.7 327.694 1934 7 16 2* 5 628 88.250 ! 1935 12 2 0 8 27 240.154 : 1936 20 10 6 14.225 439.270 1937 13 10 7 9.37 201.700