COMMERCIAL

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 9320, 15 June 1891, Page 2

COMMERCIAL

New Zealand Times Office, Saturday evening. Messrs Edwards and Mcßeath report on the labour market—Country servants are still in demand—male and female.

THE LONDON WOOL MARKET. The following, received by the last English mail, is Jacomb, Son, and Co.'s report of the wool sales held in London between the 2nd and 28th April“ 61, Moorgate street, London, 28th April, 1891.—The second series of public sales of colonial wool for this year commenced here on the 2nd instant, and has closed to-day; our this year’s business is thus considerably more forward than that of last, inasmuch as the second series in 1890 did not close till May 10, up to which date, in two series of sales, 567,613 bales had been then catalogued and 100.000 bales remained held over in first hands, of which 23,000 had been catalogued : whereas to the present date in 1891 610,853 bales have been catalogued in the two series and only 9500 bales remain held over. This position of things leaves the estimated increase of 70.000 bales in the season’s clip from Australia and New Zealand to be regarded as a trifling consideration. In the present sales some 56 per cent of the quantity sold has been taken for export, including about 9.000 bales for the U.S. A. The attendance and competition have remained good and strong till the close, but the highest prices of the middle of the series have been hardly maintained in some instances, and a little more irregularity has been felt in the realisation of short and inferior produce; the closing currency represents the full average of the last three-quarters of the series, after the somewhat weaker quotions of the few opening days had been improved upon; as before quoted, values rule, as compared with those of our preceding auctions, for—Better merinos in the grease, 5 to7iper cent advance ; good bodied scoured merinos {of which a very small show), 7i to 10 per cent advance ; short faulty merinos, grease and scoured, 5 per cent decline to par; lambs show no alteration ; crossbreds of all descriptions, par to 5 per cent advance; Gape and Natal wools generally, no change; good bodied greasy Natals and best Gape snow-white, 5 per cent advance. 3003 bales of woolled sheepskins will be offered in this market on Thursday, the 30th April. Ensuing wool sales are fixed to commence here on the 9th June (list to close on that day or on the day on which 400,000 bales gross shall have arrived), the fourth aeries on the Bth of September, and the fifth on the 24th of November.

I’rorn the table of statistics at the conclusion of the report we take the following list of this year’s import* into London to the 22nd April as compared with the imports to the same date last year i-frooiNew South Wales, this year 182,849 bales, last year 203,908; Queensland, 57,321 bales and 66,872 bales; Victoria, 169,943 bales and 188,943 bales; Tasmania, 8,927 bales and 9398 bales ; South Australia, 53,046 bales and 51,094 bales ; West Australia, 9,246 bales and 13,720 bales; New Zealand, 100,47 1 bales and 105,427 bales; Cape and Natal, 131,089 bales and 133,897.