THE WOOL MARKET.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9875, 21 October 1893, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE WOOL MARKET.

(Fbom Ouk Own Correspondent.) 30 and 31 Flket stkeet, London, September 1. Nobody' seems inclined to venture upon any very confident forecast as to the prospects of wool. All the leading London brokers are most courteous in. their readiness to afford me any information'that it is within their power to :furnish, but,, unluckily, that is very little. 'They are unanimous in vague declarations that the wool market is dull and that as yet they can discern no trustworthy symptoms of permanent improvement, so I have been seeking further afield for enlightenment. : I spent last Sunday at Dewsbury, in Yorkshire, the very heart of the woolen manufacturing industry.".-.- Within a radius of three miles there are' more than 200 huge woollen mills, any one of which would make half a dozen of our New Zealaud mills look rather small even if rolied into a single concern. On Saturday and Sunday I used my eyes and ears. 11 had a lopg chat with one of the keenest and ablest of the manufacturers, who had spent 50 years in the trade and looks good for another 50. - j

"The woollen trade is very bad indeed jdit now," ho said. "What with the English strikes, the deadness of the iron trade, foreign competition, and the falling off in the colonial demand owing to local production, we are having a very bad time of it. there may be some revival in the spring; no doubt there will bo, if trade in general improves then, but at present I see no definite indication of any substantial recovery. We find that our trade depends largely on the state of theco'al and iron industries. It is not merely a question of dearer fuel bub the colliers and ironworkers are'large buyers of woollens, and now they cannot afford to buy more than sheer necessity compels. So our mills are on short time already, and further reductions will follow unless there should be some revival."

Replying to a question as to foreigncompetitioa he said.—" '.file French can beat ua in ouf own markets because they can manufacture so maoh more cheaply, owing to the lower wages paid in Francs. Here our men will only work 55 hours per week. They are paid on an average 30s per week; buk in France the men work far longer hours and at much lower pay. I don't say our men ought to work longer and be paid less. I only say wo cannot compete with other countries while they obtain labour on terms so much more favourable."

" Wiiere do the foreign manufacturers get their raw material?": I asked. "From tho Loadon markets mostly," he replied. "At every wool gale there are crowds of foreign buyers, French and Gterman chiefly, and they can afford to give bstter prices than we can, because their expenses in respecii of labour are so much smaller. In fact much of your New Zoaland wool: lately has gone to the Continent."

"We.use your New Zealand fioo wools very largely," he continued,, '"in making the cloths that are mostly worn now. Our own homegrown English wool is less suitable for this sort of manufacture. We use it mostly in blanket making. Tho New Zealand fine wools are nearly always excellent in quality, and arrive in good condition."

" There'is one thing," he concluded, "which is against an early rise in. wool.! ;Tha't is 'thel very heavy stocks held by manufacturers. For ft long tims past they have been buying largely whenever wool has been particularly low, not for immediate or even early use, but bimply to hold in the event of a rise. This, to my knowledge, has been done to a^very great extent, and it will always be the practice now that its advantages have been felt: The effect will naturally be to maintain a moro steady equilibrium in prices, and to lessen the likelihood of such wide ranges being experienced in the future;as have bsen known in the past times."

A leading London woolb.oker tells me that there have been practically no transactions in wool during the past-week; He. supports the statement of my Yorkshire friend that manufacturers are being much hampered by tho enhanced cost of fuel duo to the Midland colliery strikes, and adds that several woollen'mills not'only have already had to resort to-"short time," but will close altogether for a while unless the labour-dispute is brought to a gpeedy termination.

The arrivals to date for the approaching wool sales comprise 152,903 bales, of which 55 628 are from' New Zealand, 32,783 from New South Wales, 26,167 Cape, 20.996 Queensland, 11 561 Victoria, and only small quantities from elsewhere. So your colony is a long way first. Of the total quantity-24-; 500 bales have been forwarded direct from the ships to the Continent or Yorkshire.

I learn from Messrs C. Balme and Co. that at yesterday's sales of woolled sheepskins 2579 bales were offered, of which only 14-7 came from New Zealand, as against 372 from Tasmania, 4-31 Queensland, and 1238 Victoria But New South Wales "sent, only 142. I notice that the little out-of-the-way port Punta Arenas, in Magellan Strait (off which the New Zealand: Shipping Company's, steamers that go through that picturesque but difficult passage usually anchor a few hours to await the tide)—perhaps the moat forsakeu-lookiog settlement in the wide world, excepting Perim in ths Red Sea—contributed 10 bales of sheepskins to yesterday's sale.