THE WOOL SALES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13647, 15 January 1908, Page 8

THE WOOL SALES.

A FURTHER DECLINE IN PRICKS. THE BULK PASSED IN. EFFECT OF DISTURBED TRADE. The second sale of the Auckland wool season was held at the Chamber of Commerce yesterday, a record quantity being offered. The total number of bales was 5055, against 2203 for the corresponding sale last season. I The sale opened very weakly, and it ! was evident from the first tap of the : hammer on the rostrum that, in the par- ' lance of woo' salerooms, "the bottom ] had dropped out of the market." There i was as full a bench of buyers as at the ! first sale, those present being the same as in November, but there was a total absence of animation. The faces of owners and agents began to lengthen, and down came quotations with a run. Jn fact, there was only a little competition at rare intervals, and prices for all sorts declined sharply. Nothing was in strong demand, the locks and pieces selling bet- ! ter, in proportion, than the fleece wool. i It must be remembered, however, that j ; at the second sale in Auckland the lots j i forward are mostly back-country wool in i small quantities, and this the buyers are i never very keen on speculating in. The 1 New Zealand Loan and .Mercantile Agency : Company's catalogue of 2521 bales includi ed no less that 796 lots, the largest line j being 24 bales, while Messrs. Bucldand and Sons' catalogue of 1568 bales embraced 503 lots, the largest line being one of 26 bales. • There was a general decline, over the whole sale, of from l£d to 3d—in some lines much moreand consequently there was a comparatively small quantity of the wool quitted at auction, the bulk being passed in. It was significant, too, that the bench of buyers dwindled down from nine to five as the sale wore on, and : towards the conclusion only four remain- | ed. One kindly-disposed firm supplied the buyers with hop-beer, lemonade, etc., but the liquids did not facilitate bidding.. A number or causes may be assigned for the drop in prices. The wool grower will probably listen to no other reason I than the conclusion formed in his own mind that there.was combination against him amongst the buyers, but those in close touch with the wool market are inclined to look much further for the contributing factors, and they say the decline was owing to the disturbed state of trade all over the world, which has resulted in a tight money market and the American financial crisis. America, owing to the duty, buys the brightest and cleanest wools, lightest in grease ; the buyer for American houses has always to look for wool as free of grease as possible, and that offering yesterday, or, at all events, a good deal of it, was heavy in grease. There was no American ' buyer yesterday, whereas there was one at the "1907 season sales, and then the competition was keen, the bright, light wools going up to Is. The same class of wool yesterday only drew offers of from 7£d to 9Jd. Naturally the Bradford- buyer had it all his own way. Then, again, the market here is ruled by London quotations, and the last catalogue from London recorded the sale of any amount of good wool at 8d to B£d, which means 7d to 7£d here. Of course, also, there is the lack of competition. There is not enough competition at Auckland to really, get at the real values, and this is . largely owing to the isolated position of this market, the travelling delay preventing all the buyers including Auckland in their itinerary. With the opening of the -Main Trunk line this difficulty will probably be done away with. The Napier sales also clashed with the Auckland sales yesterday. One leading merchant, however, doubted*if there would have been much better prices yesterday with even as full a bench of buyers as at Canterbury sales, because since the first sale there had been a 15 per cent, drop in London. As instancing how the decline has set in, the j case of Shropshire wool may be taken. j Last season one good line went at : j at the last November sale the wool from j the same Hock was passed in at 9'd, and ! yesterday the highest bid for it was B.}d. j Crossbred wool was selling at the prices j offered for locks and pieces last season, j ranging from 5d to BJd. Some was sold under sd, but it was stained and not in good condition, while anything over 8d was very good. Good Romney wool averaged Bd, and Shropshire 7d to Bd. The locks and pieces induced fairly good competition and sold up to sJ>d. There'was but poor demand for Lincoln wool. The top price of the sale was 9i|d, this being attained in three instances—once for superior half bred, once for fine crossbred, and once for Southdown; but the highest bid of the day was 10] d foxJialfbred, that lot being passed in. Messrs. A. Buckiand and Sons (Mr. C. G. Brookes, auctioneer) sold first, offering 1563 bales. They found crossbred wool showing a. decline of from Id to 2d per lb on the November prices, which wore a drop from the previous season. Lincoln wool fetched 6£d as the highest price, but this was against sjd to quoted at Christchurch, while Shropshire wool, at its be.4, ' was S'£d, as against-. 9Jd for similar woo! j at November sale. The highest price the firm secured mis 9Jd for a line of five bales of fine half bred wool, the clip being from Mr. i Foster's sheep at Wainmuku. The best crossbred mice was B{d, secured in three lines, the best of which came froir Riverhead district, and this represents a drop of from Id to 2d per lb on la.st sale. I he Shropshire price of BJ,d was got for Mr. J. Smith, of Matiihuru, and this represented a. drop of Id. Pieces sold better than at the first sale, realising as high as s£d, while stained and cot ted wool brought 5d to 6d. The best, price for merino was B,jd, and this line was passed in. Lambs' wool however, sold better, realising from 6id to 7£d. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company (Mr. N. Somerfield, auctioneer) followed with 2321 bales, this linn's sale occupying the major porbn cf the, day. It found crossbred prices ranging from 6jd to B|d for the finer lots. Coarse wools, generally, were found to have declined from lid per lb, while finer wools went down by £d to |d per lb. The bulk of this firm's offering was crossbred, aqd it handled a good proportion of the bush districts' wool. The highest price realised was 9|d for some fine crossbred on account of Mr. W. G. Bilton, of " Rowsell's," Kaipara, and the nest was 9£d for a nice line of 13 bales sold on account of Mr, W. C. Mountain, of Russell. The firm quitted some good Romney wool at Bd, and a large quantity of good crossbred at Bid to B|d, while lambs' wool was sold at from 6id to 7£d. A very nice line of Shropshire wool was passed m at 9d, and some fine crossbred at the same figure. Messrs. G. W. Binnev and Sons (Mr. E. Binney, auctioneer) came third with 501 bales,." The firm secured 9|d for a line of four bales of fine Southdowr wool, and received the highest offer of the day, namely, 10id for a choice line of halfbred wool, the lot, however, being passed in at this figure. A good line of 25 bales of fine crossbred was sold at B{d, while a line of three bales brought 9,Jd. Good clean crossbred wool ran from 7£d to Bd, medium 6d to 7d, and inferior from 4Jd to 5Jd. Messrs. C. B. Kingswell and Co. (Mr. Kings well, auctioneer) offered. 217 bales. The highest price was Bjjd for good South-

down wool, but fine crossbred and half- ! bred met with good offers, considering the state of the market. The Farmers' Union (Mr. Nelson, auctioneer) offered 448 bales, nearly all crossbred, and the wool met about the same range of prices as quoted. For a small lot of fine bulfbred Bid was secured, and choice crossbred brought B{d. NAPIER SALES. [BY TKLKIJBAPH. PBKSS -ASSOCIATION.] Napier, Tuesday. The second wool sale of the season today was much more successful than the first. Bidding was spirited, and the prices of the December sale were fully maintained, being a shade higher for special lot*!. The condition of the wool offered was,much heavier than last year, owing to the dry weather. The demand for lambs' wool was keen, and in some casts the bidding, which opened at sd, went to 9d. Locks and pieces sold well. The following were the average prices realised: —-Superior half-bred, 9Ad to lljd ; fine crossbred, B*d to 9£d ; coarse crossbred, bright and well conditioned, 8d to 9d: inferior, 6i|d to 7|d. Lamb:-.' wool, good, bright conditioned, 8d to 9d; .inferior to medium, 6£d to 7Jd; locks, to 7|d; inferior mediums, 4td to 6d. EXTENT OF DECLINE. In view of the weak local market the following, appearing in the Pastoralists' Review, will be read with interest:—"There is very good reason for the fall in the financial crisis brought about all over the world by the big bankruptcies in- the United States, and looking at the situation on paper it would not be surprising if the fall had been greater. . . Of course, pastoralists have well understood from the first that the recent values could not last for ever, and in face of the increased supply of wool it speaks volumes for the soundness of the position that they should have lasted so long and only been upset by an accident. So long as the world continues to want wool and the manufacturers have only small stocks in hand, no great decline in value seems possible."