WOOL SALES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11922, 21 December 1900, Page 5

WOOL SALES.

The first Dunedin wool sales of the season were held in' tho Victoria, Hall, Agricultural Buildings, yesterday afternoon. Since last season values have steadily declined in London, and it was expected that locally prices would also be low. However, as things turned out they were better than was anticipated. Tlie top price realised for halfbred was 81d. In Christchurch the top price this season was BJd. The catalogues all round were very small. The bulk of the wools offered was somewhat inferior to what will be submitted at the next sale on the 11th January, as it is usual that better wools come in .for the second sale than for the first. The actual number of bales submitted and the order of tho sale were as follows:— Bnles. Wright, Stephenson e,ud-Co .. .. 29S A. Moritzson and Co 59 Otago Farmers' Co-operative Association (Limited) ' 254 Donald Reid and Co (Limited) 533 Stronach'Bros. and Morris 201 nalgety and Co. (Limited) 122 Farmers' Agency Company (Limited) .. 221 Total 16SS

The following are the reports of the selling brokers: —

Messrs Wrisrht, Stephenson, and Co. report 8.3 follows: — i/iio owPTiinp' svjlg of tlifi scoson was held in the Victoria Hall yesterday, when only very small catalogues v:ere nut forward by the vnrions aniline brokers constituting the Duncdin Wool brokers' Association, the total quontitiy offered being only some IGBS bales, against j 4376"bales at the corresponding sale last seaI son. We offered a small catalogue of 301 bales, the hulk of our consignments being held for ouv sale, on the 11th nroxirao. There was a splendid attendance of buyers, the usual contingent of foreign buyers nil brine; present, and the representatives of the Roslyn, Mosgiel, Oiimaru, and Bruce woollen mills,'together with a large number of speculators and felimongcrs. The selection of wools, as is generally the ense at this sale, was not a representative 'one, the hulk of the offerings being mixed in quality end shabby, although a few lots of well-grown I bright wools in light condition were offered. The gravity of the events which have, taken place in the European woot markets since out closing sale last season has, we think, been j well ventilated, and ihe enormous fall in prices ! which has taken place is pretty well kf.own. ] We are glod to be able to report', however, that jat yesterday's sale prices for all descriptions i showed an advance of fully Id per Ih on'thosc I ruling at last London sales, nud fully M per 1b above those ruling at the Christcliurch.sales lost week, showing an advancing market and great confidence in the immediate future. We give below note of prices ruling at yesterday's suction together with those ruling at the corresponding sale lust season, and it will be at once seen "from this that the fall in prices has not been so severe.as was generally anticipated. Ynstcrday's values may bo taken an follows: — Merinos Sri to Gd per" 11). half bred s 9d to 7d, crossbreds 7Jd to 6Jd, thrce-quarterbred long wools 6ld to Ed. pieces and bellies 5Jd to 3d, locks 3d to ljd. Comparative prices "current: Ist Sale 1900. Ist Sole IK)9. Merinos .. .. Sid to Pd .. ],- lt l. to lOd Halfbreds .. .. Od to 7d .. Jfild to Sid Crossbreds .. 7>d to 6»d .. IOJd to ,7d Th re e-quarter-br'd long wools 6?. dto 5-1 .. Pd to fid Pieces & bellies s}d to 3d .. Sid'to <l!d Locks 3d to lid .. 4d to 2}d

Messrs A. Moritzson and Co. report having hold their first sale of the season yesterday in the Agricultural Hall. There was a very large attendance of buyers, including representatives of the Bruce, Mosgiel. Onmsirn, and Kaikcrni woollen mills. Home firms, and the local fellmongers. Owing to the very backward-season the catalogues offered were small. W e are pleased to report that competition was very keen, and prices were quite id ocr lb above expectations. Speculator!- si-nrl Mlir-orifers took the bulk of the wool offered, outbidding the Home buyers by quite »d per lb. The condition of the wool was not so srood as lust season, being heavier and not so bright. The total q'uartity of wool offered by the various brokers was JSS7 bales, of which'-IM bales were passed in or withdrawn from sale. The following were the ranges of values: —Suncvior merino, 71 d to E-id; medium, G'd to 7',d;' inferior, Ski to" Gd • super halfbred, 7?, cl to Sid: medium, ■ G?d to 7Jd; inferior. 5Jd to Gd;" super crossbred GJd to 7d; medium and inferior crossbred, 4?d to 6d; bellies and pieces, 3d to GJd; locks, U,cT to 4i. . '

Mr John Grindley, on behalf of the Oto™ Farmers' Co-operative Association (Limited), reports holding the first sale of tho session yesterday. The total quantify of wool offered «« small compared with the corresponding sale last year, most of the consignments being held over for second sales. We catalogued 302 bales, and cleared nearly every line at prices showing an advance of id to Id per lb over the ruling prices at the Christchurch sales, held last week. Yesterday's catalogues contained nothing of special character, and, generally speaking, the wool was earthy and coarse. Fine sorts are wanted by the local manufacturers, but there was none of this description offered. We quote current values as followsCreasy halfbred: Best, 7d to 9d for suiier; medium and low sorts, 6d to EJcI; merino—best, 7Jd to 8-kl- super to Dd; medium, and interior, 6d to 7!d; crossbreds, Gd to 7?. d; three-quarter-bred and-long wool, fid to GJd ; billies and pieces, 3d to Sid; locks, Ud to 3d.

Messrs Donald Reid mid Co. (Limited) report as follows:—We held our first wool sale of the season's series nt the Victoria Hall, Agricultural Buildings, Dunedin, on Thursday, the 20th December, 1900, when we submitted a catalogue comprising 540 bales, mads up chiefly of clips from small grazing runs and farmers' clips. The character of tlie wools offered was on tho whole rather coarse and stroii" to meet the requirements of local manufacturers, nnd, owing to this cause, except for the finer wools offered, we failed to got the full benefit of their support. For all the fine wools offered howover, the local manufacturers were strone competitors, and all wools of this class met very animated competition. The condition of the clips as placed on the market must be. classed as fairly good; the wool opened out nice and bright, and was comraratively lisrht in grease, and very free from tick nnd earth stains. There was the usual full attendance of buyers. English and foreign manufacturers and local fellmongers a,ud speculators being fully represented; while the welcome competition" by buyers from the Mospiel. Roslyn, Oimaru, and Bruce mills contributed materially to 'making the sales pass more briskly than was anticipated Owing to the serious fall in values in the London market, vendors were ouite prepared to meet the market in a reasonable spirit of concession, and we nre pleased to r»r>ort that in roost oases the moderate reserves fixed were readily given by buyers, and in many cases a r.onsidnrabl" pdvance on the valuations was tion, but for all sorts there was good co'iiwijtion up to, and in many npsrs much higher than, equivalent values in Hie Ln«don ma'-W Of the 54G bales entnlnmi»d hv "s. 1?. were withdrawn frqin sal" (to h? hold for no\-t ni>>\ 73 wore passed M the sal« owing to m-ices offered not being m to valuation, smfl Ifil vere fold under tho homier. Wo regret to not" that prices realised r-how a drnn as compared with prices at our opening silo of l»«t. season of. say, on merino sind the finer hn'fbrcd wools of from 3d to ad per ]b, md on the cnsTer sorts of 2rl to .lid per Ib. Th«r e was a full, attendance of wool-^rriwprs an others intornptpd in the sales, and most of them nv"pnmtl to bo well satisfied with the result. The Wowing shows current values:— Creasy halfbrrd — Purjerio-, Pd to 8ld: ?ood. 7d tn 7?d; medium, (id to CJd; inferior, fi»d to SJd. Ooasy merino— Svmerior. 8d 'to B*d; good, 7d to 71d; medium; Bid to 6Jd. Rreasy crossbred—Superior. G.'d to fi?d; good. Gd to 6£d: medium, s}d to DJd; inferior., did to sd. Greasy, longwoola—Good,

Sid to-GJd; medium, 4Jd to 5Jd; inferior,-4Jd to 4^d. The following brands realised highest prices:—lV, 1 bale greasy half bred.' 7|d; MC; 2 do 7£tf; WM, 1 do, 74d; 81, 2 do, 7Jd; P&AK, 4 do, 7Jd; Triangle, 5 do, 7Jd; Keith Hall, 7 do, 7Jd; dash 3qimre dash, 2 do, 7Jd; CB conjoined, 2 do, 7Jd; F over half-circle over Hyde, 2 do, 7d; 31, 2 do, 7d; WT over AF, 8 do, 7d; V over S, 5 do, 7d; half-circle over C, 2 do, 7d; half-circle over 0, ■ 2 do; 6jjd- L 4, 4 do, Gjjd'; W 1 do, 6Jd; Daisy Bank, 8 do. 61d; HX, 1 do, 6J>d; MC, 1 merino, 7Jd; SI, 3 do,"7.',d;' 31, 2 do, 7Jd; —B, 2 do, 7d; SR, 3 do, GJd; "Keith Hall, 9 crossbred, GJd; AC over H, i do, 6M; inverted G conjoined G, 3 do, 6?, d; N4, 5 do, Cid: NB conjoined, i do, GJd; S, G do, GJd. ' '.' .Messrs Stronuch Bros, and Morris report having held their first sale of the season yesterday afternoon, 20th inst., at the Victoria Hall, Agricultural Buildings. Beyond the familiar faces of the usual buyers, representing Home and foreign houses, local mills, and shippers, me sales were favoured with some outside competition from speculators who were tempted by the probability of very low prices ruling, uho latter, however, were disappointed, and only secured a small proportion of the wools sold, prices being considerably above their expectations. Since the beginning of this year the London sales have showed a steady, decline, culminating at last scries with a fall which was estimated to leave values 40 to 50 per cent, lower than that of 12 months previously. This being the case, all interested dreaded the opening of our local sales, and it was believed that offerings for the season would be very small, a large number of growers preferring to run the risk of shipping to London rather than accept the low values anticipated.. In view of this it is satisfactory to be able to report that prices, compared with Christchurch sales on the 13th mst., show an advance of at least id per lb, while current, Dunediu values may be stated to be a full Id above London equivalent. • Yesterday's catalogues comprised very few choice clips, the bulk being made up of inferior and shabby wools, principally from the early shearing districts. The total quantity submitted by the brokers barely reached 1700 bales, as against f 200 for the conespondong sale of last year. This difference was principally owing to several owners electing to hold their clips until they saw the result of the opening sale, and no doubt the second .series on 11th January will be a record one, and include, at Ml events, a large proportion owned by those who hitherto'contemplated risking the London market. Included in our catalogue was the well-known clip of Mr Peter A. Watt. Kaihiku, 'branded .1 vy, and with this we established a record for this year s wool sales in the colony, the halfbred, under keen competition, rnakinc B',d, at which price it was purchased by Messrs~Murray, .Roberts, and Co. for the Mosgiel Woollen factory. The merino from this grower's stud flock realised B}d, and the crossbred ewe 73d. For Mr W. E. D. Hughes (of Tokarahi) we sold ha If bred wool, branded Cliff, at 7?d, and halfbred pieces at 5J3. A "Waikouaiti clip, marked 8 in circle - was sold at 7Jd. Values may be quoted as follows:—Greasy halfbred super, 8d to BJd.; do medium to good, GJd to 7Jd- do inferior, 5Jd to GJd; merino—super, 73d to B}d; do medium to good, 6Jd to 7id; do inferior 5d to lid; crossbred-auper, 7d to Sd; do medium to good, Gd to GJd; do inferior, '■%! to S»d. .Pieces.and locks sold exceptionally well, the former bringing up to 53d, and the. latter to Sid. Our catalogue comprised 201 bales, and of this we sold 17G, the balance not reaching owners reserves or our own valuations.

Messrs Dalgety and Company (Limited) report having held their first sale for this season at the Agricultural Hiill Buildings on Thursday, 20th mst. Owing to the fact that a large pronortion of the wool forward was held over until the second sale, the catalogues offered were smaller than usual, tho total offerings this year being 1890, as against 4376 bnles last year. I hey ottered 122 hales "(the greater'proportion of t.heir consignments being held for the second sale), and sold 111 bales, which, with 72 bales sold privately, makes a total of 183 bales. I here was a large attendance of buyers, including, in. addition to the usual buyers for theAcw Zealand; English, and Continental manufacturers, a very considerable number of speculators and fellmongers. The condition of the wool offered compared favourably with that offered at the corresponding sale last year; but as is usually the case at the first sale, the selection.^ with the exception of a few lots, was an lnaifrerent one. Competition was stron" throughout the sale, and the prices realised were very satisfactory, considering the heavy fall in values that lino taken place since this time last year. The prices yesterday were the highest obtained at any sale in New Zealand this season, and on an avorge were fully -Id per 1b above those ruling at the last Christc'hurch sales. Ihe following are the range of values realised:-Best merino, 7»d to BJd; good to medium, 7?, dto <Hd; medium to inferior, Gd to s}d; best halfbreds—superior, 8d to SAdfioorl to medium, 7id to 6|d; medium to "inferior. Gd to 5Jd; best crossbreds, 7Jd to G^lmedium to good, 6Jtl to ojd: medium to inferior sid to AU; pieces and bellies, 5d to 3Mlocks, 3d to I'd. . The. Farmers' Agency Company report having held their first wool sale of the season yesterday^ when tney offered a small catalogue of 330 bales, a considerable'quantity being held in store m addition to above, on account of the clips being incomplete, caused by the unfavourable shearing weather in the early part of the season. There.was a first-class attendance of buyers, foreign and local, and the mills were fully represented. Competition was keen at the reduced rates, and prices ruled higher by. id to U than were anticipated from the late Canterbury sales, notwithstanding the fact that very few choice parcels were offered at the Puncdin sales. AYe append schedule of actual sales, which will best indicate the relative prices of wools sold last year and the prices realised yesterday, and also show the large drop that has taken place in-tho value of the staple: ■ 1839. 1000. Greasy merino ... ... Ud ..... 8d .Halfbred .. ... ]3d .:■ 7Jd Crossbred .! .. lojd .. 6Jd Scoured halibred .. .. lad ... IHd Ciossbrcd nd ■..■ 7Jd Slipo merino 13J.d "..' 7Jd Halfbred .. , 12d ... .. 7.kl Crossbred 9Jd ■ .. . Gd The ranges of prices yesterday for greasy wool were as follows:—Greasy merino, Gd to BJd' halfbred, fijd to S^d; crossbred, 5Jd to 7id; three-qiiarterbred, 4|d to 6d; joiecßS and bellies, 2Jd to 5Jd; looks, ltd to 21d; which appear to be from Jd to Id above to-day's London equivalent. Tho New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company report that, owing to the majority of their clients whose wool is in store having decided to have their clips offered at the second sale on 11th January, the company's catalogue of 53S bales was withdrawn from yesterday's sale.