FALL OF 1D TO 1½D. ON JANUARY SALES

New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11454, 26 February 1923, Page 3

FALL OF 1D TO I½D. ON JANUARY SALES

AMERICA TAKES BEST QUALITIES Perhaps the wool sale has ended better than might have been expected, for whereas at the start it seemed as if there would be a set-back to the December prices, the position is that the set-back really amounts to between id and ijd on the January sale, for a comparison with the December figures reveals that on the whole they are a little higher than that offering. They are much on the lines of recent sales, and seem to indicate that a standard of prices has been reached. America took the greater part of the fine wools at prices little short of the last Wellington sale, and Bradford, although a large buyer, was operating on a lower level than before. If there is disappointment at the results it must be because growers not made allowance for the difference in quality between the early and late shorn wools, and when this fact is also taken into account, the prices realised cannot be regarded as altogether unsatisfactory. The gloomy forebodings at the beginning of the sale were not fully borne out,'and on Saturday business appeared to show a slight, though small, improvement, and bidding on the last catalogue was as brisk as at any time during the sale. Dominion mills and France were fairly keen after good lambs’ wool, but at a lower figure. The buyers represented Bradford and the Continent, America and Japan, while Germany was on the spot for low grade wools. Events in the Ruhr valley and the stoppage of the textile factories in that area undoubtedly had their effect on the market, and will continue to do so until a settlement is arrived at.