THE WOOL MARKET.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20596, 21 June 1930, Page 15

THE WOOL MARKET.

TOTAL OF UNSOLD CLIPS.

WINTER DISPOSAL SCHEME. AUCKLAND SALE NEXT MONTH. A heavy carry-over of wool from the sales on the ordinary rosier led to the decision to hold winter wool sales in New Zealand this year, supplementary to the usual crutching sales, at which in recent years small quantities cf fleece have been offered in addition to oddments. A return compiled by the Dominion Woolbrokers' Association as at June 6 showed that slightly more than 140,000 bales of wool were held in New Zealand awaiting disposal, this total including what was in brokers' stores and known to be in the sheds of growers. The offerings at the Wellington and Wanganui sales, held this week, will have reduced the unsold total by a few thousand bales, the two catalogues totalling about 7700 bales. The quantity of wool offered for sale in the Dominion during the 11 months ended Slay 31 was 109,075 bales less than in the corresponding period of 1928-29, and 150,725 fewer bales were sold. This season, which does not officially end until June 30, the offering for the 11 months was 496,430 bales, of which 416,253 bales were sold. The respective totals for last season were 605,505 and 566,978 bales. Thus the quantity offered but not sold was about 80,000 bales this season, compared with 38,500 last season. The Quantities Unsold. The quantities of wool unsold at June 6, as ascertained by the New Zealand Woolbrokers' Association, were: — Bnlca. Auckland . . .. • . 9,90'2 Wellington . . • . . 36.093 Christchurch ~ .. .. 11.237 Dunedin .. .. •• 16.840 Napier .. .. . • .. '24,592 Wanganui r.-.i '.-a r.. 21,677 Timaru . . . . . . • 3.750 Invercnrgill 10,622 Oamaru .. r.. Gisborne . . • • . . 6,605 Total v-a .. .. ..140,718 How much of the unsold wool will be offered at the winter sales is uncertain, depending on the decisions made by the individual growers. At the first of the series, which was held in Wellington on Tuesday, only about 4000 bales of fleece wool were offered, although the Wellington estimate of wool unsold at June 6 was 36,000 bales, of which about 19,000 were in growers' sheds. This sale, of course, would be regarded by most growers largely as a test of the market. Prices realised were slightly above those which ruled in April. At Wanganui on Thursday only 2500 bales of the 21,677 unsold were offered. Further sales are to be held in August in both these centres. The Drop in Returns. Arrangements for the first Auckland winter sale on July 22 are not yet sufficiently advanced for a reliable estimate to be given of the size of the offering. In addition to a tendency to wait until the second Auckland sale on September 16, a number of growers may decide that it will pay them to continue to hold their wool until next season, in the hope of securing substantially better prices. It is known that some who have not placed their clips in brokers' hands are certain not to release their wool for the winter sales, and others have consigned it to the overseas markets. At present it appears unlikely that the catalogue will approach the quantity of nearly 10,000 bales which is unsold. Of this total about 5800 bales were in the brokers' stores on June 6. The reluctance of woolgrowers to meet the market under the conditions which have prevailed this year can be understood when the returns for the three main Auckland sales in the past three seasons are compared. The average price obtained this season was only 8.26 d a lb., against 14.016 d last season. The following table shows the results of Auckland sales in the respective seasoos 1927-28. 1928-29. 1929-30. Bale . . £22 6 3 £2O-4 4 £ll 15 0 Pound . . 15.43 d 14.016 d 8.26 d