AUCKLAND WOOL SALE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22998, 28 March 1938, Page 8

AUCKLAND WOOL SALE

The Auckland wool selling season closed on Saturday on a much more confident note than it opened at the end of November. Several factors contributed to this happier condition. In the first place demand was broader based, coming from Bradford and Japan as well as the Continent. Bradford took time to assure itself of the new level of values, but latterly has accepted and operated on it. So, by contrast with November, brokers could report on buyers' eagerness "with the result that the sale was exceedingly buoyant throughout." Growers received ■welcome assurance that wool is wanted, even if prices have receded from the exceptional height reached last season. They have accustomed themselves to the recession and met the market on Saturday. The clearance of 95 per cent at auction compares strikingly with 30 to 35 per cent of sales in November and is a strong point for the future. Fear of the effect of a heavy carry-over on market tone is thus considerably reduced. Perhaps the most gratifying feature of all is the manner in which wool has held its ground amid the international "alarums and excursions." Political and economic uncertainty is rampant in world centres, recession has proceeded far in the United States, and serious repercussions were being felt in New York and London at the end of the week. In all the circumstances wool growers and other producers have cause for thankfulness that their particular commodities have suffered little by comparison with certain other markets. If costs could be kept in check, present prices could be considered payable. The farmers' central problem, however, is that outgoings tend to outpace incomings, a problem that has largely been created by the actions of the Government.